Sleeping Death
by Ellourrah
Summary: Diamond has a few tricks up his sleeve for the Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen, but they'll have to fight through his little fun house of horrors to get the prize. Rated T for gore/violence
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Mamo-chan has a girlfriend," she murmured, leaning her head back against the uneven cabinets. The tile floor froze into flesh and bone. Beside her, the lonely leftovers she'd tried to eat cooled in the summer air. The trails of sauce still dripped from her chin. A clock struck 1 am somewhere far away.

She must have said it 3 million times since this afternoon. The thought had never left; like the word 'friend' hadn't smacked her so hard it left an imprint. Like being told the cute redhead wrapped around his middle was none of her business.

Thankfully, no one had been home when she slid lifelessly through the door. After everyone had gone to bed, she sleeplessly made her way downstairs to raid the leftovers in peace. The food turned to ash. The lump caught in her throat. All the while, Luna yowled and chided about stupid things that didn't matter. Who could possibly think that a figure was going to win over someone like him? He had schools of girls drooling at the mention of his name and there was sure to be more than one skinny, smart, sophisticated, intelligent, adventurous, capable, strong, beautiful, and ultimately perfect one among the hordes.

And well, he'd found one, hadn't he? The bitter tears spilled over again, mingling with the stains on her cheeks, on her shirt.

Mamoru had a girlfriend.

The tears continued to flow, long after mewing turned to purrs, and the clock in the living room struck 2. Mamo-chan had a girlfriend and it wasn't about Usagi, or destiny, or the future. He'd chosen someone else–some strawberry blond with impish green eyes and porcelain skin dotted with freckles. To keep chasing him meant nothing; obviously he'd turned her down flat more than once.

Now, it would be to take someone else's happiness away. As desperate as she felt, there was no way she could ever hurt anyone like that. And knowing him–knowing how deeply and passionately he did love, how alone he'd been his whole life…how could she take that away? How could she keep fighting for something he had no desire for?

Long white fingers tangled in the black fur beside her. Luna continued to purr, keeping her comments to herself for once. It was a pleasant moment when the pain dulled enough to breathe and the heartbreak eased because at least she still had the girls, still had her guardian. Maybe now that he had someone in his life, he would just fade away finally.

Maybe it would only hurt if she kept thinking of him.

Maybe it hurt more this time because there was no convenient sword to shove through her chest.

"Mamo-chan has a girlfriend."

The clock chimed again, right at the half-hour. The rumbling ball beside her continued like a massage unit and the cold, cold ground froze her legs. What little could be remembered from their past life left her seething in the corner, a fiery brand that had all but forced her stalker behavior even a week ago. How she'd pined for him, knowing somewhere deep down that if he could just remember them, it would all be made right. He would choose her. Of course he would.

She should have taken the hint when he brought Natsumi flowers. She should have understood, hanging in the sidelines in her witch's outfit, that Mamoru had a type–and it wasn't her. She should have seen in the moment Tuxedo Mask's black rose wilted before her eyes, that mind control was only half the problem. She should have let it go when she'd walked in on those two in his apartment.

She'd ruined it for him. A stuttered sob ripped free as she thought about it. He could have really liked Natsumi, they could have really been happy together. Just like that stupid Odango he always took her to be, she'd just barged in and ruined everything for him. She'd done it since they met: a thorn in his side, a ridiculous little girl he just couldn't seem to get rid of, a nuisance.

A vicious tug ripped at her side, sent the thoughts skittering away as tired blue eyes drew to the window. Somewhere, miles away, a brilliant pillar of light burst into the night sky. She fumbled momentarily; the blur of Luna's panicked voice barely registering. The locket slid on cool fingers, unresponsive and bricklike as she struggled to stand.

"Hurry, it's Chibiusa!" Luna yowled, already heading for the door. She followed, listlessly but as fast as possible. The darkened streets slid by as she ran. The cold cement tore at bare feet till she was sure she'd slip on blood. The tears smeared across the sights and sounds till there was nothing but the shining black fur of her mentor like a bolt of destiny calling her to another fight. It seemed even heartbreak couldn't stop the world from ending.

She slowed finally, when the glow surfaced between the trees, and two of the specter sisters came into view. The vibrant green woman had Chibiusa by the throat, the tiny body glowing and sobbing beneath the threat. The glimmering golden sister stood behind, her arms crossed haughtily as she watched on.

"Stop! Put her down," Usagi screamed, thrusting the locket up. Even as the transformation swept across her, that listless feeling dove straight into bone and flesh. The lights painted trees and office buildings, but couldn't break the strange spell that left her mind spinning on repeat. The terrified eyes of her pretend cousin swam within the laughing green depths of Mamoru's mystery girl.

Luna leapt in, teeth and claws shining as she latched on and refused to be budged. There was no time for words, rather Moon flew into action, calling on the scepter to knock the two hags away so the child could run for it. There was a glimmer, as the pink-haired girl fell from the grasp, as Luna went flying overhead to the trees, right before the flare of power shot forward.

The energy went with it, left the heroine crumbling to her knees on cement. The wand took so much out of her under normal conditions, that exhausted and half-crazed, there was no way she'd get another chance to recharge. The blond locks fell around her, accented with horrified laughter.

"Oh…oh, did you see that," one snorted.

"She completely missed! What an idiot," the other replied.

It drew her blushing face upward to see both doubled over in laughter. Even Chibiusa was staring in stupefied horror at her hero. Luna was balking, unable to speak.

"Finish her! At least it wasn't Venus." The second comment lit like a slap to the face. It sent morning blue eyes upward as the Youma materialized overhead. The blue-green figure splayed both arms, murmuring hauntingly as she wavered. The night air began to shift, the wind to lift golden hair from her face. Cold streaks burned across her face; from shame or guilt she'd never know.

This was it, the end of her ridiculous run as a hero. It could have been better, a more fulfilling end if the black moon had simply ripped the offending organ from her chest. Perhaps it was still on the menu.

Her eyes, drugged and heavy, sought the tiny child as if to apologize, but even the horrified cinnamon gaze held nothing but disgust. It was the last image to imprint her brain as the pull finally won.

The Senshi fell, slumped against the sidewalk with golden hair tumbling around her.

.

.

….

Luna stared in shock as the monster slit the night sky with her gaze and sent the young girl crashing into the sidewalk in a heap. Chibiusa screamed from behind her, golden moon glowing to fill the courtyard with heavenly light. There was no time to speculate on the child's heritage, however, as the two bickering figures turned to them with hungry eyes. The feline bunched, felt the hackles of her back rise in warning.

There was no need. Within moments, the four guardians vaporized around them. Each taut figure bristling for a fight. Their auras shimmered in the night air, filled with the promise of vengeance and death should the sisters try anything. Even the trembling child stilled at the sight, her terrified scream dying to a soft whimper.

"Ladies, I suggest you make a hasty exit," Venus noted, her tone a steel blade.

"Try it." The crack of knuckles snapped both back to reality. The thunder Senshi looked ready to kill, Amazonian legs tensing visibly in the low light. A quick cast around the circle showed the guardians lined up for blood, and the Rabbit huddled behind the vicious cat from earlier. Calaveras grimaced, glancing at the smoldering fire Senshi before stepping into the night sky. Petz growled out a hasty curse.

"Take care of them," the lieutenant ordered, following her sister without another word.

The Youma nodded, reaching up to slide a blade free of her forehead. She barely had the chance for more as Mars stepped forward. The heightened air rose in pitch, sent skin and hair rising as spirits from beyond this world rose to her call. The charm flared in her hands, clashed heavily against steel and rang through the warm night.

The exchange was brief, a flash of wicked metal, the cross of white gloves. The monster screeched in pain, evaporating as the others stood down.

"I swear; these guys aren't even trying anymore," Venus muttered, glancing at their silent companion for confirmation. Their genius Senshi was typing, hardly paying attention as the others congregated to Moon's side. Obviously, this particular monster didn't fare well enough in the stats to illicit a response from the warrior of ice.

Even Luna shifted forward, the steady, small footsteps of the child following now that danger was gone. She slid between the crush of bodies to the fallen blond, finding it strange that her charge hadn't moved yet.

"Guys, I think there's something really wrong," the bluenette noted, glancing up from her monitor curiously. Icy blue eyes took in the sight of their unmoving leader, the abysmal staunch of graying skin and limp arms. Even the gold of her hair seemed muted in the half light, though she was sure it must be her imagination. The thunder Senshi knelt and lifted a shoulder, but their princess flopped lifelessly back against the ground, as limp as the golden hair fanning around her.

"She's…I think she's in a coma." It was perhaps a little early for such a diagnosis, though the preliminary readouts seemed less than optimal. Both eyes narrowed thoughtfully, scanning through the stats of their vanquished enemy that had been gathered moments before. It wasn't conclusive.

"Excuse me," Mars muttered, gripping both shoulders to pull her friend upward again. "Oi, Odango," the raven-haired girl called, shaking at the lifeless doll. The movement became more aggressive, sent the hair shimmering in the streetlamps. "Odango," She called again, desperation tapping her voice.

"Jupiter, get her to a bench; Mercury, full scan," their commander barked, reaching down to lift the scared child from the ground. It was a reminder that their mystery guest had also made it to the scene or was perhaps the reason for the attack. The seat was cleared of debris, the limp girl laid as carefully down as possible.

"I don't understand. Didn't Mars finish the monster?" the genius mused, pulling cords from her subspace pocket. The sensors clung to pale skin one by one, even as the chilled girl retraced the steps of the night. They'd arrived, their sovereign a bundle of golden hair and body sprawled across the cement. It didn't make sense considering the usual mode of operation they'd been able to witness up until this point. The enemy had two targets: the energy of the people of Tokyo and Chibi-Usa, who seemed much more than she appeared. Usually at this point, Moon should be fully recovered and on her way home.

The computer burst into action, bringing up the manifold health readings alongside her regular vitals. Beside her, the raven-haired girl knelt, trapping a lifeless hand within her own as if to give comfort. The priestess shifted moments before the beeping could mark the night: something more was wrong here. The cold hand trapped between hers began to glow, the eerie color pulling like a riptide against her spirit.

"Her body temperature is dropping–4 degrees already," the mouse-like voice was tense. Luna leapt upward easily, climbing to Mercury's side to take a peek at the readings. Her fury face drew tight.

It was that stupid boy's fault. Moon may be a klutz and a bit of a crybaby, but she'd never missed her target so completely. If there hadn't been so many distractions in her training, or perhaps the pull of a love interest she never should have been with, this would have been an easy fight by anyone's standards. By all rights, this lay at the doorstep of Chiba Mamoru, who hadn't even bothered to come. Scarlet eyes flared in the night as fur spiked upward.

"I'm going to get help. Mars, keep her warm." The tone crackled in the night before she hurtled toward the ground again. The others gathered closer as warmth began to shift through the night. Raven hair lifted in response as fiery glimmers flickered across Usagi's body.

"She'll never wake," the wind mocked, voice filtering through the trees. Venus slid the girl from her arms, tucking her back toward Mercury as she and Jupiter stepped forward. The guardians tensed immediately, whip and rod flaring in response to danger. The clearing was silent, even to the edge of the sidewalk. A breeze flit by, so subtle in the night. "So foolish, little Senshi."

"What's your problem," the brunette hollered, her fingers crackling with pent energy.

"Sold your leader up the river…" The trees shifted like demons around them, picking up as the air around began to build. "Now, she's ours," it mocked, louder and louder. Jupiter fizzled in the silence, sent ozone flickering around the group. "He is coming."

Chibiusa pulled tight against the water guardian's leg, her gawking, red-rimmed eyes staring at her hero in mortification. Sailor Moon was supposed to be invincible, her papa had told her many times. Maybe, in returning to the past, she'd somehow broken the timeline. How could the greatest warrior have fallen so easily? How could she have known that her night walk could have lead to this?

A tiny hand reached forward to press against pallid, cold flesh, even as goose bumps raised her young skin.

.

.

…

So yeah, maybe my baby sis threatened me within an inch of my life to get the next chapter of SoulBound out. Maybe I believe her. Needless to say, it's well under way, and hopefully will get to editing in the next week or so…

Also, this story is dedicated to my wonderful editor, who encouraged me not to give up on it, and also my old roomie, who helped me figure out what the crap was wrong. Thanks to them, this will just be awesome.

Tambien, necesito alguien que puede ayudarme traducir mis historias. Si tienes ganas de ayudar, por favor, enviarme un mensaje. Gracias!

E


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Time passed. Any sense of the haunting voice died with the last promise. For the first several minutes, the Senshi had stood waiting, watching the trees for any form of threat on their fallen princess. When none showed, it was Jupiter who took the watch. Her emerald eyes clashed against trees and shadow, listening to the shift of wind and night.

"I can't seem to figure out what the trigger is," the quiet voice mumbled in frustration. She knelt on the sidewalk, wishing the boots would cover her aching knees. The pain was dull, hidden behind layers of frustration and uselessness. The monitor blipped, lower the temperature dropped, and slowly Usagi began to shiver. Even with the help of Mars' fire to keep her warm, it seemed some other force was pushing the blond further and further into deep waters.

"Is she gunna die?" Chibiusa sniffled, rubbing at her eyes with both tired hands. It was so late, and everything was scary and dark. Venus smoothed a hand over cotton candy hair, a gentle distraction while the others worked. Luna had been gone too long. Even if she had gone for Mamoru's healing powers, she should have been back ages ago.

"I don't believe it," the darkness whispered, so much smoother than the voice of their Youma foe. Mars shivered instinctually, wrapping arms around their rag doll princess. The resting warriors rocketed upward, crowding around the precious form drifting slowly into oblivion. The night grew cold.

A blast of power sent the little group sprawling across the cement, shrieking in pain and frustration as the darkness began to swirl together beside the bench. Lights from the road washed the emerging figure in white, made the darkness a ghostly contrast to pale skin and a cruel smile. The wind picked up, harsher and filled with dread as a billowing cloak drew dark lines through the air.

Moon was glowing softly. The murky street lamps lit a cancerous glow to her once bright face. The darkness of night drew heavy lines across her shape as ravenous eyes lapped at her form from the shadow. The ghostly figure standing beside her shifted, razor cut white hair glinting in the streetlamps as he came into focus. Even as pale light slowed to a stop across the two, the man bent to lift the fallen woman from her stone bed.

The guardians screamed in warning. Their labored, shifting movements barely lifted against the heavy ground. The figure smirked at them momentarily, cradling the treasure close against his chest. Her long hair scraped at cement, the wind tugged at her skirt. All the while a gaze of molten violet traced every inch of her.

"My queen, how little you change." The words carried on the wind whipped through the clearing like a declaration. He bent, pressing a soft kiss against her cheek as if in reverence.

"Let her go." The familiar voice of Tuxedo Kamen barreled across the moment, drew amethyst eyes toward the road even as pale hands tightened visibly around his prize. A short bark of laughter shattered the night, white locks burning in the heady moonlight filtering through trees.

"You must be the prince," the dark voice chuckled venomously. Even as the laugh continued, the air began to stifle and shift. "I shall have to thank you for this. I thought it would be ages before I could get my hands on her."

Kamen leapt forward, rage grinding through his skin. The cane slid into his hand, easily whipping through the air at the strange creature. The form shifted, stopped the swing mid-action as a third eye snapped open. Every muscle froze in atrophy, even as a grimace rounded his face. The rising women congealed like old blood, their angry cries cut up short.

"Thank you for taking so long. I'll be sure to explain the situation to her when she wakes." The demon grinned, staring down the five as if it were an inside joke of some kind. Chibiusa managed a weak scream, terror-filled eyes wide at the ghostly figure glinting like the face of death. It drew the gaze toward her, sent chills skittering through her skin.

The alien sent a cold smile at the child in question, though made no move to capture her. Kamen latched on to the idea immediately, wondering why this enemy seemed to have no interest in his usual prey.

"Ah, the Rabbit." The words glinted like a knife. "Don't worry, pet. No need for the princess when the Queen stands in the hall."

Moon's red boots lowered slowly, tapping against the ground as her figure drew itself erect on marionette strings. Her golden hair swished in the oncoming breeze as his fingers trailed through it, even as lifeless blue eyes snapped open in response. Limp hands twitched upward, latching onto his embroidered jacket in some mock show of affection. The ribbons exploded; her nude form bristling against the night for a spare moment before soiled pajamas enveloped her.

Kamen grimaced, throat straining with the effort of an unspoken scream. Her face was red and blotchy, her clothes wrinkled and spotted in food. It was bad enough to watch her die nightly in his dreams, but to see the bubbly, bright girl coated in despair was too much. Even her hair twisted and jerked across her back as if not combed in days. She looked awful, and the guilt of it carved a ravine his chest.

"Hardly fitting this world's future ruler," the man murmured, leaning forward to blow across her face. The tears fled, golden hair whipping out into soft curls as the stiff cotton billowed into long stretches of purple and green gossamer. The curve of her shoulders slipped languidly through the moonlight, her hair shimmering silver as his fingers drug through it again. Even her pale, emotionless face reflected the light as the man smiled and pulled her head tight against his chest.

The woman stood perfectly still, her eyes dead.

"There you are, my dear. It's been a long time, Serenity." Flowers exploded into the silver tresses, violet and lavender interspersed and trailing along the ground. Black obsidian stretched beneath their feet, inching toward the heroes as they fought for control. The Lunarian beauty shimmered in the light of her home planet, a diamond against the black night.

The sight burned at Tuxedo Kamen's chest, reminded him of happier times before the world tore itself apart. He watched, horrified, as this man slid hands along her body, pressed kisses to her skin as if he owned her. The dark savior strained against the ache of muscles, the sleeplessness that nearly destroyed him. The power was too strong though; watching helplessly as the most innocent, sweet girl he'd ever met was fondled like a play toy.

"Mama," Chibiusa muttered in shock, now recognizing the silvery presence for all that she was. Even as the word fled her mouth, Kamen felt the blow burrow deep in his chest.

The visions sprang forward, offering the dead crystal palace and the hollow woman hiding behind glass. The thought of silver hair wound through layers of rock like a tomb broke his skin with ice. Chibiusa was Usako's daughter…perhaps far into the future. And the woman locked away, slowly dying like the world around her….

His arm twitched the slightest bit, just as the monster drew the ancient princess into a deep, lusty kiss.

The moment stretched on. Kamen felt the vomit rise to the back of his throat, yet could not move to purge it. The muscles strained and screamed, his whole body ached with the need to move, to do anything to stop that horrific scene. It was futile. The hold across them seemed absolute.

"Endymion." His name called like a challenge, even as the muscles began to shift in earnest again. He glared death at this man, willing him to lose control even for a moment. "Ever rivals, embittered." Those cold violet eyes narrowed as he spoke. "Trust me when I say this gives me every pleasure. You took from me the world that was rightfully mine to begin with. You took her. And now? I'm taking it all back."

The Senshi shifted uselessly, straining against the bonds holding all of them so tightly. The cool night air misted against Mercury's visor, smudged the vitals running remotely from the compact computer. It hummed even so far away on the bench, the wires sparking. Icy blue eyes narrowed dangerously, even though her arms and legs could not move. It was silly to assume every Senshi needed such weapons to be effective.

"It's telling, isn't it? How a woman feels beside you. It's hard to believe that a few short weeks at your hand has brought her so low. She was once the crown princess of an imperial alliance, yet barely alive now for the love of some idiot human," their enemy continued mindlessly, his fingers tracing the princess' face with eerie intent.

It was the monologue that helped the most. While Tuxedo Kamen's mouth edged into a thin line, and the others groaned and cursed under the strange weight bearing down on them, Mercury had time to think, to reason.

This was a targeted attack. The Rabbit had been their initial goal; that was positive and upheld by long-standing precedent. Moon's unconscious state certainly gave the Black Moon clan the needed leverage to stand on. This figure had been referred to as if he were some sort of president of the clan, some hierarchal leader. It posed a few clinical questions in her mind, which she quickly stored for later.

Right now, there was a negative gravity generator with her name on it. Pale flesh rippled into goose bumps, chilled the air till her breathing came in short, icy puffs. Already, the frosted tendrils of ice stretched beneath her straining hands into the ground. It would take some precise timing, a bit of luck, and probably some advanced calculus done in her head, but maybe….

The white prince flinched, trembled as curling ice slid between the cracks of his shoes and invaded the blood stream. Mercury rose like an avalanche, her pre-frosted gloves shimmering beneath moonlight. The others yelped and struggled to their feet as Kamen finally was able to lurch forward unevenly.

The air painted white. Ice tendrils smoked across the night between them and Kamen's shadowed black cape split the fog as he lunged forward. The white prince laughed, but didn't bother to dodge the oncoming attacks. Instead, his form caught the blunt end of a can, and ghosted through without a hint of resistance.

The words released such an intense, animalistic rage it was all he could do to stop himself from howling. The two started. For a moment, Mercury couldn't seem to reason through the events. Even moments before, her ice had bled through him and released that powerful hypnotism. How was it possible for his body to shift planes so quickly? She watched, mesmerized as the hero reached forward to touch Serenity's shoulder curiously.

He slid right through.

His princess was in danger, and he'd wallowed at home while her guardian listed all the pros and cons. Guilt and shame played tag-team through his blood as he watched the smoothing action of this freakish ghost splay across her cheek as if he loved her–as if he cared. The very fact that Usagi was currently nothing but a lifeless doll told him all he would ever need to know: this was an enemy.

If these actions were any indication, one gloriously free of good intentions–and therefore hostile.

"She's with me, Endymion. As it should have been." His cold face sneered through the darkness, cloak billowing in and out of reality as his arm around her tightened. He could barely spare a glance to the others, though Chibiusa drew his attention more urgently. This freak was smoking through the fog like a specter, the Senshi melting out of reality, and his child friend sobbing as the ground beneath her began to melt.

He watched, horrified, as the group faded from sight. All across the sidewalk, that shiny black hell leaked toward the trees, the buildings. Already, it was beginning to form upward; like stacks of billowing clouds bursting from a storm.

"Give them back!" he growled, releasing the blade concealed within the staff. The white prince grinned sharply, smoothing his fingers beneath the doll-woman's chin.

"To watch you grind this perfect face in the dust? I think not."

"Why the hell do you care!" Tuxedo Kamen raged, feeling that cold despair penetrating every part of his guilt-ridden soul.

"Why do you not?" The dispassionate, removed question barely seemed able to contain such biting venom. It was more than an accusation, more than a challenge. "Perhaps I have not made myself clear. Serenity is mine. The Rabbit is mine."

The ghostly figure drew his cloak around the pair, holding the princess as if they had always been coupled. The sight made Kamen's possessive soul scream in agony; the thought that he would have to witness such a thing too much for even him to bear.

At least in the past, he'd died before Beryl could take her life. That would have been too cruel, too terrible to endure. To think that now, a thousand years after the fact, he would watch as her life was claimed right before his eyes filtered liquid nitrogen into his blood stream.

"Don't worry, little one. He will never hurt you again," Diamond murmured, tracing Serenity's face. The glimmer of a tear sparked against the moonlight as the two faded away; the only sign his ghostly princess still lived.

The park was gone. Blackness swallowed the night in a death grip the likes of which Mamoru had never seen before. Even the glimmering stars overhead were swallowed in the void. The last image burned into the backs of his eyes held nothing but rage and guilt for him; yet he could watch as his enemy groped and fondled Serenity to his heart's content….

Mamoru howled from within, planning and plotting, stalking his vacuum cage like a wild beast tearing for a weak point. The nothingness stretched on for miles in every direction, nothing but smooth glass surfaces incapable of showering the world in light. He smashed the first few barriers; so full of hatred it was all he could do nothing to shatter himself every time he bumped against one anew.

The others were gone. Even little Chibiusa's haunted cry was lost in the emptiness. Not that he wanted to see any of the Senshi; to be perfectly honest they'd be more likely to kill him than even the white prince. Especially once that stupid feline had a chance to reveal what had taken them all so long.

Perhaps it was his earlier thoughts of the past, or the sight of his ancient princess alive and breathing, but for a moment the smell of Lunar soil tripped against his senses, burned through years of memory to carry him back to the past.

The battlefield stretched on for miles, coated in bloodied forms and shattered pillars. Distantly, the sounds of fighting continued long after the battle had ended; the ghosts of years long past rising from the dust. The pale light filtering down from above painted the world in red and rusty brown. Broken swords, twisted limbs; the marks of death and destruction were the skin of this god-forsaken planet.

Mamoru shifted, felt the sticky give of sodden dirt beneath his heels. Behind him, the Senshi gasped in horror, their bitter comments lost to him as he viewed the extent of the damage. It was all he needed; their self-righteous eyes tearing through this one selfish decision. It was something that had nothing to do with the citizens of this once happy kingdom, and it was all gone in a day.

"Endymion!"

The piercing wail shattered the eerie shift of dead voices. Though the warriors turned quickly, their eyes searching for the source of that despairing cry, there was nothing to be seen but devastation. A terrified sob rippled through the air. Venus crackled slightly, her whip fizzling to life at the sound of her princess' voice through the shadows. The links clanked in the sudden quiet.

A soft squish slid like velvet across the group, and drew all eyes to the pinprick of light burning through the haze. A glimmering figure clothed in white sat huddled on the ground, her body bent double with grief. The shadow at her lap was enough. A shiver crawled along Mamoru's back at the sight of his own death.

In horror, frozen stiff, he watched her long, beautiful hand lift the sword he'd dropped moments before. The blade was glinting unevenly, flecked in blood. Her face turned up long enough to brush the hair from his eyes.

A wicked cackle hissed between them, the violet shade drawing near was coated in red haze. His glowing princess did not bother to respond.

"Without you…."

The steel caught at the light.

A sliver of tears reflected back.

The blade squished through bone and flesh, rib and heart. There was no cry, no whimper as her movements stilled. The ghostly woman crumpled. Deep red began to flow across the ground and tugged the fine white gossamer down.

Horror bled up his throat in a strangled cry, forced his feet into movement though the space between them yawned wider. Every sense within him shuddered and screeched–the idea that his love had died like this must be some terror brought on by the enemy….

He had never known what followed the sudden end of memories. Perhaps, somewhere in the back of his mind, he'd assumed the worst. Surely the hag would have struck down his sweet princess within moments of his death. He'd never thought to ask her the same question. It would have been too revealing; would have killed him to know he could not be there to protect her.

She had never second-guessed the move. He could tell; the subtle shift of hesitance and fear so present in Usagi had also been true of her ancient counterpart. She hadn't bothered to wonder what to do next. There was no fighting, no screaming, no wailing as he would have expected from the little teen.

It was just her, with his sword through her heart, and nothing but dust to soak the last drop of blood from her perfect corpse. A symbol of all that they would one day become; fodder for crows at the end of days. She'd killed herself, the last words searing through eardrum and grey matter like an accusation.

Like a promise.

"Serenity," Mars sobbed, her gloved hands crushed across her mouth in horror. Their fallen princess was ruthlessly kicked aside and the blade ripped from her lifeless body. Beryl crowed in delight. The hordes of legions fell in behind as the assault on the Lunarian castle continued unchecked.

"I see." That smooth, evil voice billowed across the group. It drew the gaze of the Senshi upward immediately, but could not tear the eyes of the prince from the sight of her dead eyes, the scarlet dress plastered against her body. "I've never been privy to direct memories, but the ginzuishou knows no bounds, I suppose."

"Why are you showing us this," The tear-choked voice of Jupiter wavered in uncertainty.

"To see what would have happened had I not intervened." The white prince smiled without humor, the planes of his face shaded in the half-light of the fallen moon kingdom. "Come now, little prince. It should be no surprise to you. Isn't it what you always wanted? Your own doll princess, now quiet and reserved?"

It was enough to turn that loathing to the figure floating above the group. His cloak billowed in the winds of another plane, those glass-like purple eyes goading and triumphant. The hero could feel the weight of his companions' mixed stares, but it meant nothing. Not after witnessing Serenity take her own life as if it meant nothing.

"Stop," He murmured, feeling that rage blow through his blood. Cold as revenge, frigid as the deepest winter air; the prince of earth sought the eyes of his enemy.

"Take her home then, Endymion. Love her lifeless body and know it was all you ever dreamed of," he chuckled, as if the comment were anything but revolting.

"I said stop!" he barked.

"I don't take orders, I give them. Listen well, Senshi. You want your little princess back and that is understandable. Know that she and I will take some time to…reconsider current arrangements."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her, you pervert!" Mars cried in anger, her aura flaring as she charged power from beyond the veil. Mercury stepped beside her, alternately freezing the sodden air.

"I propose a game. Winner takes all." Their snowy opponent offered one gentle hand, his eyes glinting like rock. "This is a dream cascade–the first of its kind. Defeat it and I'll give your precious Serenity back. We'll live side by side in peace."

"And if you win?" Direct and powerful, as she ever would be, the lightning Senshi stepped forward with gloves crackling.

"It should be obvious, Jupiter," the other answered in his bemused, disinterested tone.

"She shouldn't be in the middle of this," Tuxedo Kamen growled angrily, his fists clenching at his side. He should have jumped when he felt the change–should have raced across town rather than wait. There was no world in which he could lay claim to her now; not without risking her life needlessly. Still, the image of this freak kissing her mouth was enough to kill.

"Yeah, well, some asshole had her up all night. She should have been last to the fight, no thanks to you."

"I say we flambé this guy." The fire Senshi burst into light, hurling her arm up as the flames burst across her skin. The air shimmered with heat, but took with it the floating specter. Lightning quickly followed, under the powerful boom of Jupiter's war cry.

Laughter smoked the air as scenes of the battle fled inch by inch. Mamoru shifted, fingers aching for the familiar sword. The thought sent images of Serenity's empty features tumbling toward the ground. He wasn't so sure anymore if he could wield it again–not after knowing her body had been the last sheath. Blood fled from his face at the thought, even as the world slid into blackness.

.

.

…

AN

Sorry this took me so long! We're in the middle of moving, and you all know how that goes, I'm sure! More to come, stay tuned!

As always, HUGE shoutout, loves and thanks to slightlyxjaded for being my second pair of eyes! YOU ROCK!

E


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The emptiness stretched on into oblivion, so long and deep it felt as if nothing had ever existed to begin with. The raven twilight was like nothing and everything. The energy of the world could still be felt through the cascade, though distant, smothered and hushed.

Hino Rei shifted up from the floor, turning curious eyes all around her. The others were nowhere in sight. It was so dark she couldn't make out the shocking white of her gloves through the din. The curtain of coal black hair was a ghostly touch against her sodden face.

The rumble of an unsettled stomach breached the silence, echoing off into the void as she struggled to stand. It was too much; the vision of Usagi's blood-spattered hand and the deadness of her eyes still haunted the young priestess as if it had been freshly done. The young girl crumpled back down to her knees, shaken and afraid.

It was too soon to be fighting a new enemy, not after all they had sacrificed in the war against Beryl. The vision of Jadeite, the memories both tame and smoldering, still charred the back of her mind; again, it was old, dusted and cobwebbed. They were uncomfortable aliens now, marked with cruelty and bitter laughter; the sound of the Shitennou mocking them from beyond the grave.

The others would never know, but this solemn quiet gave rise to the dead, to their whisperings and their threatening and their darkness. She had hoped, many times, to make sense of their ill-fated past. It was a difficult task with the smoke-like faces haunting from above a midnight bed; their blackened, hollow eyes feasting….

The Miko shuddered, gasping for breath as the memories rose one by one from the mist. Perhaps she should have mentioned to the others the true extent of her gifts; the reality of a ghostly plane stretching, yawning alongside their own. The sweeter memories were swallowed in it all, gobbled down and forgotten in the face of the second sight.

No, now was the time to focus on the present; the real world held more dangers than the spirit. Try as she might, the stubborn loyalty that dredged her focus onward refused to accommodate the sickening sensation of _him_.

It wasn't a thought of hatred or bitterness; more the realization of the inevitable. She knew more than anyone what it was like to be rejected by Terra's high prince and no amount of time could heal the scar. Granted, the few dates they'd shared were initiated by Rei herself, but there had been hope….

In the end, they were too similar, and the darkness craved light more than anything. Perhaps that was why, even after all that had passed before the multifaceted violet eyes, one thought could still be heard above the din.

Save Usagi.

Not for the world–those bastards would never understand the true value of the little blond, but for herself, for redemption, and for honor. For forgiveness of a life before time when Mars fell just a few hundred feet short of her charge and watched in horror as it all came to a bloody end.

She could still feel the dagger enter her skin from behind, the rough pull of Jadeite ripped against her neck to push the blade deeper. She had watched from the ground while the scene split between obsidian locks, and had screamed her rage to the uncaring heavens, even as that sharpness slid across her neck.

She shuddered, gasping at cool air as the memories licked her millennia into the future. Her fate was sealed in that moment of pain and anguish.

Even as a rival of the princess these days, the jokes were made and the jabs thrown, but it was a deeper reflection of self-loathing. She knew that. The spirits would never allow her to forget it.

Again, she struggled upward, nursing her ankle with some care. The figure began to shuffle into the darkness, careful to avoid the ghostly whispers that caught her ear. There were few benefits of being a Senshi of two planes; she'd spent her life as an outcast and a freak among mortals.

But here, locked within the icy embrace of the Dream Cascade, those eyes pierced the world in pieces and left the tricky pockets easy prey. She could do this; she could break the system and find her princess before it all fell apart.

More importantly, she could find her broken friend among the rubble and take her home to mourn properly. She would stop the cold bite of a steel death long before the heavenly creature could reach for her end. She would be stronger.

Each shift of weight brought more turbulent memories to bear–she squashed them violently, as she did all such thoughts and emotions. There wasn't time to focus on the past, especially not in enemy territory surrounded by shifting voids.

Now was the time for vengeance.

But perhaps Fate had more in line for the priestess. Her eyes were sharp and wary, but her ankle weak from falling. It was, trapped inside these thoughts of darkness and despair, this moment when her heel decided to break.

.

.

….

"Usa!" Makoto called halfheartedly, wondering why her tiny friend was out roaming the wilderness at this time of the morning. Even the crickets had gone to bed, though the lushness of dawn still crept beyond the horizon. It was quiet and still; a moment of silence for the both of them. Makoto drew in a deeper breath, loving the scent of evergreen and flower so thick tonight. Her hands stuffed in each pocket casually, the tall brunette sauntered her way up the hill, enjoying the feel of crushed grass beneath her feet, the draw of a nearby tree.

The wind seemed strange, though, filled with whispers. The lightning Senshi tried not to listen; it would be all too soon before she'd need to draw on her powers again. For now, let it all lie still and quiet like the velvet night. For now, let it just be Usagi and Makoto, the unlikely duo. A fond smile passed her upper lip for a moment, something unheard of a year before. She'd never get over how different things were now.

"Oi, Usagi-chan!" she tried again, knowing that smile had warmed her tone considerably.

"Makoto, go home!" The words, so harsh and mean, were given with the tone of a laughing pixie. It seemed odd for a moment, because there was no easy way to figure out who Usagi was talking to. Certainly not Makoto. The childlike demeanor would never have allowed such a thing to be said without reason.

Brown velvet curls drifted over her shoulder as she neared, the wind howled ravenous like the wolf. There was a chill in it, biting, terrifying and lonely. She stilled in the grass, just inches from her dear friend, and waited for the moment to pass.

"Go home, Mako! We're waiting for you," she whispered mechanically, turning her face slowly in the light of a cold moon.

The terrified screech barely had time to shatter from Makoto's mouth before Usagi shoved her over the edge and into the void.

.

.

…..

Darkness is simply a lack of light. Negative space is just air. There is no true vacuum no matter how deep one travels through space and time. There is always matter and the changing of state.

This world is a shift of matter, but not of state.

This darkness is only the lack of light.

A dream cascade is nothing but the illusion of nothing.

The blinking screen chirped and light began to pulse between her hands. The floor was a sheet of obsidian black, more likely the use of stone rather than illusion. No need to waste resources when the energy output was greater than could be indefinitely sustained through the use of crystals.

A graph slid into the screen, the blue beam emitted from the back of her contraption waved carefully through the darkness before chirping once more.

There was more to this than a game, and the strange newcomers' intentions had been quite clear. The thoughts began to form one by one, lining up like toy soldiers as the ice Senshi stood.

Get the girls together.

Break the shift in matter.

Achieve maximum proximity to the target and acquire necessary data for the breach.

Find interface and lock down.

Mizuno Ami was not a woman to be trifled with on a mission; her brain was a surgical steel blade easily pulled from the sheath and sharpened for the task at hand. She did not bother with rashness or turbulent emotions: there was no time to be distracted by them right now.

After all, that was Usagi's department; as was finding trouble.

All thoughts aside, each step frosted the ground and left a trail cold as revenge in her wake.

.

.

…..

"We never should have let this happen." The blond curled her companion closer, knowing as she did that if Artemis had been here, he would need that comfort too. The pitch-colored fur ball purred without comment, her pelt still rigid at their lack of surroundings. All sides reflected back in hallways and passages made of nothing but illusion. Yet cold air continually pumped across the duo, raising the hairs on Venus' arm just as much as Luna's back. No amount of stroking the fur could calm either of them as they trudged onward, guessing and second-guessing each choice.

"We'll need to locate the others." The feline finally broke, shuddering uncomfortably as the shadows flickered past them.

"Not so fast, Luna. If I know them, they're on the war path. We should focus instead on finding Usagi." The tone could only be that of Serenity's lead guard, all forward business. It didn't fool her Majesty's most trusted advisor; Minako was worried sick for Usagi. That said, there was no better person to have on your side than Venus right now, especially when the bond between both prince and princess was so raw and tangible. It would take them no time to reach her side.

"Perhaps you're right."

"Of course I am! I'm not leader for nothing!" Venus flicked a wrist expertly, pausing mid-stride to glance around one more time. Everything continued on unchanged far into the distance. It was like walking through a fun house of fractals and broken lines. It was disorienting and frustrating, because she couldn't seem to stretch her mind enough to touch either her ward or public enemy number two.

"Let's avoid Mamoru at all costs, shall we?" Luna shifted uncomfortably. She found the conversation in his apartment to be nothing less than disjointed and terrifying. There was so much more going on than the Terran allowed past his shell.

It had been nearly an hour's worth of argument and him standing around doing nothing while Usagi slipped further and further away. Despite all the hatred bleeding from his mouth, their picture still held the coveted position on his nightstand. Luna had been privy to enough coming down the Tsukinos' stairs earlier that night, but she'd seen that same exact hollowness, that precise level of self-loathing and detachment seconds before jumping through his bedroom window.

For a moment, the cat found herself wishing Usagi had been there to interpret those schooled features.

"Don't want us siding with the enemy, hu?" the blond grunted like an accusation, feeling that frustration bubbling up in her chest. But no, for now, it was more important to make sure Usagi got home unscathed. After this enemy's defeat, she and Senshi _would_ be making a house call.

"I don't think they need another reason to keep her hostage," Luna remarked quietly, still puzzling over a few of the words Mamoru had chosen.

"I don't know; that Diamond fellow might hold him down for us so we can tear his eyes out." Venus grinned wolfishly, pumping a fist as if ready to do the grisly job herself given the chance. Luna shuddered again and licked at her paw uncertainly.

"You're not as sweet as we think you are."

"Nope."

.

.

….

AN: Alright everyone, hold me to it now! Ch 19 of SoulBound hits the web next Friday, leaving just one tiny epilogue left….le sigh! In other news, we're about finished with the Spanish translation of Surrender ch1, so hopefully we'll have that up for the fans down south to enjoy in their native language! WOOT WOOT! Oh man, life is good!

Sorry it's been spotty on the updates, I really have no explanation short of working on the original so much. Love you guys! Loving the comments on this baby! This is the last of what I call the 'lead up' chapters, so be ready for some gore and horror to come!

Big time thanks to Antigone2 for helping me with some styling on the rewrite of Surrender, definitely taking more work than I thought it would :S

As always and seriously forever, HUGE shout-out and thanks to slightlyxjaded for being my editor and making sure I sound super awesome!

E


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What am I doing here?" the silvery princess whispered, shakily wrapping both arms tight around herself. Solid glass stones piled high in the walls, the floor beneath her feet. A trembling hand lifted to rub against her forehead as blue eyes darted every direction.

The white prince grinned lazily, tracing the curve of her with his eyes. There was a softness to her form that belied the power held within, a subtle blend of the two only royalty could manage.

"He was hurting you, my dear. I couldn't bear to watch a moment longer." The white prince kept his distance, watching as the girl backed further and further away. The wind could not touch them here, yet the silver tresses whispered outward as if in water. The flowers coating her hair added a depth and charm even he felt incapable of truly appreciating, even as his fist slammed into the barrier over and over.

Mamoru howled, his bloodied hands painting the scene in dabs of red as he tried to claw his way free one more time. His rage and panic ate through all common sense as the scene played out. She was terrified, alone, and gods, but he could see this turning down a sickening path any moment. If only he could break through this wall and tear his enemy's eyes out for even looking, but even the Smoking Bomber couldn't scratch the surface. His shoulder ached from ramming, his head pounded, but all he could see was the terrified eyes before him.

"Mamo…chan," she gulped, her shimmering eyes suddenly more wide than before. "Please, is he here? Is he ok?"

"Does it matter?" The broken, twisted walls of their cavern stretched high above the stoic man, a stark contrast to his ghostly pallor. The long fingers gripped the head of a cane at his side, the butt steady and silent against the ground.

"Of course it does! How can you…" the girl shuddered, overwhelmed by the need to know he was safe. "Please," she tried again, clenching her eyes tightly shut. "Please tell me he's alright."

"I have not touched him." The man in white shifted, allowing the white-blond locks to fall away from his face as he smiled. "I couldn't bear it if these tears were caused by me."

He made no move to come closer. Mamoru watched, and Usagi trembled, but this strange enemy didn't budge. She glanced around, careful not to move her head so much as her eyes. The corridor could only be seen a few feet in each direction though; it wasn't enough information to see if she could make a run for it. He doubted that dress would let her anyway.

"Can I go home?" she managed, her voice quavering even as her shaking hands gripped the stones behind. The question stilled Mamoru long enough to listen. A few things were still unclear in this enemy's goals, and it would help him the most to know what they were. It was likely the prince would lie, but even that had a way of revealing truth if he could manage to see through it.

"Perhaps in a while, when you've had a chance to heal."

It wasn't enough. That bland, paper-like face held no emotion. It was a sickening sensation; Mamoru himself had been accused of doing exactly the same thing. Still, he couldn't even make out if the man was lying or not.

"You're not going to…hurt me…are you?" she gulped, drawing both arms around herself. It did little to help the situation as the stunning purple gown all but served her body on a platter. She was so scared. He could almost feel that icy fear through the bond, though it had withered to a tiny thread these past few weeks.

And he mourned, just for a moment, the loss of her.

"I think you mistake me for someone else. I'm only here to provide assistance to you, my Lady," the silken voice purred, setting the staff down at his feet. The space behind her clawed open: a vicious maw that melted into a doorway. She leapt away from it, careful to edge further down the hall so as not to touch the strange man standing opposite of her. He bowed, pulling her gaze back from the ornate silver door. "These are your rooms, sweet princess. I'll take you home as soon as I am able."

Usagi turned her back, just enough to view the new portal with some hesitation. It was in this moment, when her eyes were safely tucked away, that the first glimmer of hunger slid across that bland, empty face. The dead violet eyes flickered wickedly in the half-light, the curling mouth lifted just enough.

"T-thank you." The girl whimpered a little, turning back as the life bled quickly away. It was with nothing short of detached courtesy that the ghostly prince bowed, and Usagi disappeared behind closed doors. There was no sound of a latch, as Mamoru would have liked, and no sign that the stalker would leave.

Once she was gone, though, the fire bled from his veins and it was terror alone that kept him rigid and gasping for breath. He couldn't break through the wall, and worse, she probably thought he didn't care. A frustrated moan bled from his mouth as his forehead pressed to the smooth glass hard enough to hurt.

"Having fun?" That wicked voice slid through his ears like a blade, forced the aching muscles to stand on end as he pushed himself away. The cool, dismissive tone could not have enraged Mamoru more.

"Don't you dare touch her," the dark prince growled, feeling his skin crawl in revulsion at the idea. The frosted counterpart smiled cruelly, his pale flesh nearly blue in the darkness.

"I'll do as I please, and you'll watch." His fingers swirled through the void as a crystalline goblet materialized. "Perhaps you could take it as a lesson in courtship, young prince."

"I'll kill you!" the words were lost as he pounded fists against his prison, felt the snap of bone and joint. Mamoru fell to his knees then, the pain of his broken hands enough to drown out the desperation.

"I'll look forward to it. Until then."

Through the crackling golden lights from his skin, he watched his adversary stride away.

There was nothing else to do.

.

.

…..

She landed in a pile of rage and pathetic humanity moments later, cursing both luck and her uniform for betraying her so fully. Charcoal locks knotted in a bundle before her eyes, clung to her gloves in sticky tatters till she ripped them from her scalp in frustration. Rocks tore through the skin at her knees, the dampness clung to her flesh and throat, and Serenity was dead already! It was only Usagi she should be caring about, but with the freshened image of her charge's death so clearly brought back to life...

Mars choked on her sob, hating how weak she felt. The exhausted tremble of her limbs and joints bore little resemblance to the violence lacing through her skin. It all went wrong, every bit of it. Millennia of ruling the heavens, and it all fell apart because Serenity had a bigger heart than a brain. Funny how it seemed to always get them into these situations.

A quick glance around proved the priestess alone, as always, and irritation burned hot enough to spark in her hair again. She was being too emotional. She wasn't taking the time to think like a warrior.

A calm breath forced the magma back down, the ancient mantra repeated as she forced her being to lay still. When the fury finally cooled, and the loneliness stilled its gnawing voice in the back of her mind, both smoldering violet eyes drifted open once more.

Every direction seemed to stretch into oblivion, with little vegetation, and no cover to be seen for miles. Not that it mattered, the ruddy sun hid behind thick clouds, cast a dimness to the area that ensured she wouldn't need to worry about heatstroke so much as starvation.

A spark lit, like a tiny match. It drew her carefully upward, so that she might once again resume her mission. The glow was probably a good ten miles away, but if nothing else, it gave her direction and maybe another person. Not that she would complain if it were the headquarters of their enemy, though that was probably too much to hope for.

The glowing figure loomed on the horizon, flickering and fading as the fire senshi drew closer. Her twisted ankle forced a slow, steady lurch that seemed to gnaw at the distance slowly. The twisted landscape slid past like razors over skin, the haunted breeze dragging fingers through her hair and skirt.

She cursed. It was taking so long! Irritated sputters of flame licked at her skin before she could calm herself, force a few steady breaths. This was useless, but it was the only direction that betrayed any life short of the cawing creatures flapping overhead. What she wouldn't give for a less loving personality, because if one more scream tore from a throat up there, she'd roast them without another thought.

"My lady," the wind stretched poltergeist fingers through her ears, sent the horrified shiver crackling beneath her skin. She shuddered, gasping at the coldness around her as the fear began to settle in her gut. It had been her imagination to give words to it. Just her imagination. Like a dream. Not a panic. Not terror.

It wouldn't be long. The light was stretching lengthwise just a touch, and she was drawing closer with every step. Even though the dead surroundings were watched closely, guardedly, there was only one goal in mind. She couldn't afford to be taken unaware in the desert, not with Usagi still caught by that maniac.

"What the," she breathed, feeling her senses lurch and reel. "Serenity...Serenity!" The aching screech burst from her throat like a shotgun blast, laced with confusion and horror. Her stumbling feet leapt forward, frantic and trembling with the effort.

But it was much too late, from the look of her broken, mangled corpse, and the group of men feasting mindlessly. One drew a bloody face upward, lit with that unearthly silver light spreading from his engorged mouth. The blood dripped freely downward in swathes across his clothing. The familiar face grinned with fiendish glee, his jerking corpse rising from the ground. The others barely shifted an inch, their mouths and fingers latched to the glowing figure as flesh tore free in great chunks.

Rei retched violently, felt her late dinner launch from her throat to the uncaring ground. The ankle finally gave out, left her a shuddering mass in the dirt as his laugh ricocheted through her aching skull.

"Mars, my beautiful flame," his cackling voice echoed around her, buzzing and shimmering in her head as the vision of them feasting on her princess continued on through clenched eyes. There was only his macabre face, the tilt of insane sea-colored eyes, the flicker of curling blond hair. She retched again, felt her whole body shudder, fever, and break. "Finally, you join us."

.

.

…

"Usa, what's going on?" the blond asked curiously, taking another lick of her ice cream cone and stuffing an errant hair behind her ear again. The bow at the back of her head was loosening, as it usually did in the afternoons. It would take a few frantic moments to finish her treat before she could take it all down and redo it.

Usagi didn't answer. Her slumped shoulders and lowered head of golden hair were the only indications that she'd even heard the question. Perturbed, Minako stepped around to face the younger girl curiously. The empty sidewalk seemed to stretch forever into the distance beneath the haunting blue gaze of her friend.

All the while, the subtle plop of liquid kissed cement.

"I can't pull it out…" the princess murmured, her eyes dead and crusting over with film. Her bloodied fingers dug at the wound in her chest, fumbling slickly on the roots of a golden cord stretching from her heart. The pale white of a bone scratched through errant meat, the tear of fingernails through flesh. Already, the tattered wisps bled through the wind. Crimson trailed down her legs, dripped from her hair in matted clumps.

Minako screamed, throwing the handful at that horrific face, watching as the frozen substance clung to fetid skin. The bond…that shining piece of heavenly light that seemed to twine around Usagi in a nimbus was pulsing like a wounded animal, crying out–screaming in agony. The short figure lurched up from her seat, reaching forward with hands stained darkly.

"Help me…get it…." Her fingers were still fumbling against the bond, still struggling to tear it free from her chest. The cold chills lanced Minako's spine….

It was _loose_.

All the horror bleeding from her soul cried out with a terrified shriek because _it was loose_.

The cord…

Soft, corn flower eyes glazed as the world around them burned away but for that one horrific image of hanging meat, blood, and lost hope.

.

.

.

…..

Juuuuuuuust in time for Halloween! My very favorite season of the year!

Actually, at work, they just put up the Christmas decorations. It took every ounce of self control I had not to throw a Molotov cocktail at it. VIVA LA REVOLUTION! Hehe anywho…

So as always, massive shout-outs to my editor, slightlyxjaded, who as always rocks my socks! I also want to thank everyone personally who's ever reviewed this particular piece. It seems to be the next favorite after SoulBound, which pleases me immensely. I've never written a horror before, so I am DYING for some feedback.

Hear me?

DYING!

So review please! Let me know what you think!

E


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Pain shattered through her back and side as the ground met with flesh. She cried out, felt the rocks dig through her fuku and hip, tear through skin down one leg. A rock jutted angrily at her neck as she shifted.

She cursed, shifting upward as a gloved hand rose to inspect the damage. It came back dark and heavy. A frustrated growl rumbled through her lips, tight and angry and ready. The Amazon drew herself up quickly. The blood dripping from the cut on her neck quickly drenched the left breast of her uniform. It must have hit something pretty important.

With the clinical detachment of a warrior bred from birth, the brunette ripped the bow off her back and stuffed it into the choker before turning back to the task at hand. She wasn't a doctor. She wasn't able to tell how bad it was.

She was a brawler, and there was only one purpose to be had.

The lifeless dust at her feet clouded the air as she walked, but the plane stretched on into oblivion. With sharp green eyes destined for blood, the warrior stalked the desert landscape, searching the horizon for any sign of life.

Her mother. The stringy brown hair hung in clumps across a bloody face, her arm was bent impossibly. Jupiter cursed, racing forward through the dirt to reach her mother's side. The horror grew, though, as she saw the mouth begin to widen, the broken, twisted teeth chewing at air and tongue without pain or thought.

This was wrong. With a stumbling, slow paced churn, her brain started piecing things together much too late. A bloody, dismembered hand grabbed her shoulder. It was instinct that gripped the offending arm and flung as hard as she could. Her father's twisted face kept chewing as he sailed into the other figure; but there was no remorse.

They looked like her parents, but for people who had been dead almost 10 years, they seemed to be in awfully good shape. Short of being zombies. Short of rotting under a hot desert sun.

Don't think of them, don't connect those faces to the past. Plane crashes don't leave that much strung together, and if they did there was no chance of walking away from it. Thunder green eyes coated the landscape, picking up the familiar shadow of Mercury in the distance.

She took off like a bolt, chugging through the distance while sweat pooled across her back. They were following her, but much like every zombie movie she'd ever seen, at a shuffling gate. It would take ages to catch up, and by then, she was positive her icy sister would have this place torn apart by the gears.

Booted feet slowed, stopped. Her knees crushed the rocks to powder as she fell, hypnotized by the horror that came forward on chunky limbs.

Of course they'd get her first. A grimace sheared her face, the sparking of bolts flicked her fists. Why would they build a machine this big and not make Mercury the prime target. It would be asinine to have her mucking about in the works.

Moon shuffled along behind, her flesh dripping down from one eyeball in globs. The sight tore a scream from free, mortal terror finally winning out at the sight of Usagi already gone. She couldn't be. It wasn't real.

Just like her parents…the rocks crunched behind her and she leapt, clearing the duo in a single jump. Just like Usagi before…Mars grasped for her hair, jaw hanging at an angle from a misshapen skull. This was wrong. Even as the last blonde came into view, the electrical charge was bursting across her arm and through her hand.

They weren't the Senshi. There's no way in hell Aino Minako would allow a zombie to tear her favorite shirt like that.

.

.

….

The streets were quiet tonight. Unlike the other girls, she didn't mind walking home after battles, even in the winter. The slushing mess at her feet suckled every footstep, blurred the lines of sidewalk and street while the lamps above hummed. The night stars shimmer through the sky, familiar and companionable. These things had always made her feel better as a child, when the others would laugh and chase, building men from snow and setting angels with their little legs and arms.

She liked to watch them sometimes from the classroom window. The sun fell quickly after the school days then, taking with it the sounds of screaming children, of joy. It was safer once they were all bundled up anyway, because then Ami could walk home and admire their work like a clinical bystander.

As she had always been.

A chill gust tugged at her hat, and mindlessly, her hand raised to pin it back against her head. Maybe she should spend less time dwelling on the past, reassigning painful memories into pretty ones. It was silly to pretend the forced solitude was anything but torture.

A can clattered to bare pavement, stilling her feet and mind instantly. There had already been a fight in the park. Moon was still recovering, and the others on their way home. Downtown Tokyo was a dangerous place at night, but she was more concerned for the homeless person it was more likely to be.

She knew what it was like to huddle in a corner, and to want.

Snow-coated brick fell away as she craned her head carefully around the bend. Her Senshi training came first in all things, a robotic action that stemmed from drills long into the past. It did not prepare her for the beast clawing through blood and flesh on the alley's dark floor.

With a cry, she changed, pulled the snow flurries from below her feet and threw them in a jagged spear launched toward the beast's hind flank. It turned, grizzly hand shattering her weapon in an instant as the features shifted and changed.

"Ma…moru-san," she murmured, horrified at the face glaring through the fur. A quick glance at his feet showed the mangled body of her best friend in pieces, dead eyes staring into the night.

She watched with almost clinical detachment as the brooding figure returned to his meal, noting to herself how surreal it all seemed. It wasn't possible. In the past few years, she'd had to switch positions on what was feasible, and what wasn't.

That said, Mamoru both turning into a beast and tearing Usagi apart was not, nor would it ever be, on the list. It was strange. For the past few days, she'd watched the blond struggle with rejection, had seen the light in her eyes smashed as Mamoru raced off with another girl. She had thought, in that moment, that he was tearing her apart.

This was just a literal translation.

"Oh, now I see, this place takes your fears and plays them for you. Interesting."

It was easy enough to switch her mindset, though the image of Mamoru coated in Usagi's blood was nevertheless disturbing. Instead, she turned away, closed both eyes, and focused on something more superficial.

Once the mania began to claw at her chest, the terror to freeze through her blood, she allowed both shaky eyes to open again, this time much more aware than the last. Everything was pitch dark, and for a moment the hysteria fought against the urge to bolt. She'd never find Usagi. She'd never find her!

"That's what we built the cascade for, Saphir. The Senshi are known to be quite emotional when the Queen's involved." The introduction of voices burst through the darkness without form, though the voice she could almost place.

"You underestimate them as much as the minions do. They'll break..." the second countered, his tone more business-like.

"In half. They are not the target, brother. Never forget what we're here for."

"I still don't understand why he had to come." It was the second voice, but to what he referred, there was no indication.

"Endymion is the force behind her power. Without him, she'll crack. The king gave us all the leverage we need to get the job done."

The distant sounds of footsteps followed, the heavy clang and thump of iron. Mercury tried to still her breathing, heart pumping in her ears. It would do no good to be caught now.

It was too dark to see anything, but the sounds whispered through just fine if she was quiet enough. Rather than focus on the lack of sight, instead she closed both eyes and strained her ears as hard as she could.

There was a soft squeak, maybe glass, and the shift of a foot. Someone was still close, with a barrier between them. If it was the white prince and he had command of the cascade, it would be moments before her discovery. Her companion moaned in the silence, the squeak continued in distorted hisses, stuttering breaths.

"Serenity..." he whispered. Mercury started, shocked to recognize the smooth voice as her fear. "Soon, those eyes will open. And your fire, your passion..." He moaned again, and the blunette began to quake. Had she been too late? Was she waiting in the darkness now as her princess was taken? "I'll have you, my goddess divine. Those eyes..."

It was a passion of rage that forced the ice senshi to move. Her senses lost, the cascade closing around, there was a hint of ghostly white through the shadows before she slammed into the barrier. The sound forced the footsteps close on hurried feet, and soon the white prince's empty face drifted down from above.

"I knew it would be you, Mercury. But you are not the grand vizier quite yet, I think." The cold whisperings of his demented mind drifted through the quiet, as her head and shoulder throbbed in time, and the fine lines of broken glass began to spread across his face.

Even through bleary eyes, the sudden mist that slurped through vacuum and space, his porcelain skin twisted and pulled, his features warped in gruesome detail. The glass shattered, spraying across her even as she tried to duck and protect her eyes.

But he was already on top of her, tearing and slashing with fang and claw. It wasn't long till the floor ran crimson tears in the darkness.

.

.

…

She wouldn't look up. It felt like the first time he'd seen her in months, and those gorgeous blue eyes wouldn't rise from their home on the floor. She moved slowly, as if her limbs ached with every step. The sight of it hurt him, as if that pain was mirrored in his own limbs.

She was reaching for a brush, her silver cascade of hair spilling down across the black marble floor. The mesmerizing smoothness of her wrist as she worked the bristles through those long strands was a simple show he could watch till the day he died.

Some part of him knew she thought she was alone. It was the first time he'd seen her face so blank. In the few weeks since the breakup, her vibrant features mirrored hurt and pain and morose loneliness, as only his Usako could do. Everything she did was done from the heart, from the soul.

It was what made the act so appalling, so heartbreaking.

She continued her lifeless stare a few moments longer, fingers sifting through the silver tresses as he watched. Tears were pooling, falling, and dripping onto her blue skirt one by one. She breathed heavily, blinking her sightless eyes.

"Let him go, Usagi." Her silver-blue eyes met his for a pained moment, filled with fire and determination before it all sputtered out beneath tears.

"He was never yours." Her thick voice broke and stuttered, and the emotions flared to life across her face. "He was never yours!"

Her fist slammed into the wall before his stomach, shattered it with thin spider's webs deep into the darkness. Her angry sob became a momentary shriek as her hand tore free again. Crimson loathing splattered the countertop. Bitterness filled the air with choked sobs.

"You're so pathetic." She hiccupped softly, rubbing the bloody hand across her cheeks. The dark smudges broke the lines of her face. Tears painted the deep scarlet rivers till her skin ran with blood. All the while her weeping flesh oozed down the frothy blue skirt.

"It's ok," she hiccupped quietly, pressing her head against the shattered glass. "Nothing's changed, Usagi." Her bloody face forced him to his knees, his fingers pressing against the glass without hope. It was unbreakable, he already know that. But his sweet, loving princess was torturing herself, she needed comfort and distraction. Two things he would not be able to give. "He was a dream. You have to wake up."

Again, he charged the Smoking Bomber, aiming at the break in her mirror in hopes the crack could be widened. If only there was a way to get a message to her, let her know that he was here, that he cared. There had to be a way to talk to her.

The explosion rocked against the glass, the blowout seared his face to the bone. His scream of rage and anger was never about the pain, though. The golden sparks already crackled along his skin. But her face smeared blood between them, her tears cleared paths his hands couldn't reach. She couldn't hear him.

"What did you think would happen, Usagi? That he would love you forever? That he would never leave you?" A bitter laugh choked her till she was crying again."You're nothing but a child. You were never a princess."

Her head ground across the glass, tearing skin as it went. In horror, he watched as the love of his life bled freely from her wound, and didn't seem to care.

"Serenity was never 'just a kid'." The words fled her mouth as the movement slowed to a stop. "Serenity..." she breathed, eyes twisting away from the mirror. Her fingers traced the intricate carved handle of the shears at her vanity. The dainty fingertips danced along the rounded handle carefully, as if contemplating.

The quickening silver shears snapped into her hand, spotted and rank with blood. He screamed, slammed fists against his cage in anguish as her arm raised high. The point of her weapon aimed true to her chest, her face turned away in a grimace.

He slammed against the glass, raging and anguished. The silver fell.

"Now, now my queen." The white prince soothed quietly, wrenching the silver from her hand. She gulped, choking on her sobs as she fell to the ground at his feet. "There's no need for hysterics. Come, let's wash that pretty face, shall we?"

Mamoru slammed against the glass again, flooded with relief and hatred and love so strong it felt like his chest was bursting. His enemy lifted Usako from the floor, his movements smooth and tender as she crumpled into his arms. Her sobs racked the sudden quiet as he watched them leave, all the while hating himself for what he'd done. Hating himself for causing so much pain.

Hating himself for being loved.

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A/N: Not much to say other than HAPPY HALLOWEEN! The updates will be slowing down a bit, mostly because I'm working *so hard* on the big book, so, ya know, this can be a for real thing. :D Just as a reminder to anyone interested, head to my facebook page for updates and exclusive drabbles!

face book ellourrahlofthousefiction

As always, slightlyxjaded is the very best editor/ person in the whole world 3

And, as always REVIEW!

Love you guys!

E


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

"I should have known." The woman practically smoldered from her position on the ground. Hellfire screeched out from her eyes, from her flesh, licking at the molten air. Beneath her, sand liquefied in the heat, vast stretches of dirt began to blacken and writhe together. The crimson skirt fluttered in the waves of air rising exponentially higher from the ground. All the while, the horrific image was framed in bright flames gushing upward.

There was no way the generals could be eating anything–they were dead. Jadeite, in particular, had been gone for almost a year. She had been so consumed, so blinded by her horror at the thought of Usagi being eaten, being dead, that she had forgotten the rules by which the other plane _must_ abide.

The rules by which they must both abide.

The fire Senshi burst upward, volcanic rage sizzling and hissing through tumultuous air. Jadeite roared, blood-spattered mouth filming the space between them in red mist. She swung, white-hot fist pounding into his face, melting and shattering at the same time as flesh and bone gave way. The general hurtled to the ground in pieces as the others rose from their garish meal.

It was just drones. They'd faced hundreds already, and the mess before her just another piece of bait.

Violet eyes fumed hotter. Kunzite came next, his hair smoking as the heat began to rise, as the ground around them burst into flame. His boots melted, his feet soon followed with a stench only burning flesh could make. She charged, the mandala arching before her in a fury of raging sparks.

The spirits may howl and rend against the veil, but they can never pass through.

Zoicite fell, charred and smoking beyond recognition as his body coated in a flurry of sparks. The ground began to shiver and moan, the liquid sand fled from beneath them. Mars quickly stepped above the mess, her aim true in the face of the king of stars.

They may whisper and taunt and moan, but their voices can never be heard.

The resulting explosion rocked the desert plane, sent spatters of hot glass flying in every direction. The sky began to fall, molten tears of orange and red drizzling down the sides of the horizon like paint daubs. The crows above burst from within, littering the growing blackness with flaming feathers crumbling to ash.

They may desire to fool the eye, to trick the mind, and break the spirit; yet they can never do so without permission.

The painted landscape fell away in a rush of melting colors and sounds. Unhurried, the Senshi stepped through, and tossed her useless footwear into the sinking mess behind. The generals had haunted her long enough, and their passing would not be mourned as she once thought.

They made their choice. So did she.

.

.

…..

"What is she to you?" the voices whisper and haunt the chilling depths. Makoto gripped her arms tightly, glaring around the darkness with hellfire raging in her green eyes. If there was one thing the lightning Senshi could not stand, it was mind games.

The dream cascade pled for her attention, showing visions of the dead princess in terrifying accuracy–right down to the moment the light bled from her eyes. The warrior of strength knew, as she would always know, that her friend was more than a princess, more than a simple school girl.

She was hope and confidence, a sweetness both forgiving and fulfilling. There was no mistaking how dear her friend had become, how utterly terrified it left the Amazon to consider her lost in this darkness. The voices continued to whisper, taunting and curious, filled with doubt and yearning.

It promised a slow and painful death to the man responsible for putting her here. The gloves stretched and whined at the pressure. Forest green eyes glared through the void ready for the first sign of movement. She'd played nice with the Dark Kingdom, and it got them all killed. Without Usagi, there was no purpose in life, just indistinct days melted together in the pot.

Makoto needed more than that. Usagi offered more than that.

"What is she to you?" The haunting voices asked again, but this time there was only one answer.

"She's Usagi." It was all the reason needed.

.

.

…

Kunzite licked at his lips thoughtfully, frost white hair glistening in the setting sun. It was maddening to see him act like this, so removed from it all. He'd always been a stoic man; that she knew from sad experience. But this? It was too wrong, too...callous.

She screamed, slamming her fists against her wrought iron cage, watching through golden bars while he flipped a page, while he ignored what happened from behind. His flat, dead eyes barely flickered her direction, barely registered her sharp cries of anguish.

"I'll kill you again, I'll tear you apart so thoroughly even Zoicite won't be able to recognize you!"

The violence spewing from her mouth was met with quiet cynicism and a smile. Again, the general turned back to his book, leaning all the more away from the terrible sight behind. The view it gave her was maddening, horrifying. She screamed, again as loud, as agonized as possible, slamming her whole body in to the cage as if it would make any difference.

All the while, Serenity sobbed and screamed in pain as the dark prince had his way.

.

.

…..

The sunshine felt nice, spread liberally across the emerald fields in the distance. A crystal pool shimmered in the light like diamonds and sapphires dancing together. The dark wood lent a perfect frame to the scene, serene and calm and bright. She leaned against it heavily, felt the gentle bite of a corner against her temple. A stray hand fingered the molding thoughtlessly, the drift of her gown slipping across her arm.

A tress of silver hair curled against the wood, the color mesmerizing and numbing all at once. It was nice to not think. It was nice to not feel. The pale sliver against dark wood bled color from the world, left it all in shades of white and black. A curious finger probed at the lock, confused as to why it seemed attached to her.

A footstep broke the moment, and she turned just enough to see him staring through the doorway. The bitter taste of metal rose up the back of her throat at the sight of him, so strange and alien even now. It must have been months since he brought her to this place.

"I'm just a pretty thing to you, aren't I?" she whispered, turning darkened eyes to the intruder. His pale face smiled from the doorway, eyes always trained to her from afar. The skeletal, hollow face smoothed away as he stepped into the sunlight. He was just a man now, without passion or thought or fear; his eyes cold marbles of dark purple.

"You are beautiful." Her answering blush hid as she turned away. The dark gray gown licked at the floor, frosted her skin till she was barely human. She'd stared into her mirror so long today that the pale flesh, the silver raiment had bled together until they were one solid blob of lifeless haze. She'd meant it as a form of camouflage. "But no. You are much more than that."

She felt him step toward her, the shuddering flesh of her arm all but fleeing his approach. It wasn't that she was scared anymore; the days had come and gone so many times now without a hint of violence from him. There was just something off, in his eyes, in his smile, that made her teeth stand on edge.

"Why won't you let me see him?" The question was given without hope. It seemed silly, even as she asked it, to keep trying. It wasn't like Mamoru cared about her. The only hint that Diamond had given was that he was close. It wasn't enough. The burning, aching love she had for him seared her chest at the thought of his face; the desperation leeching the blood from her at every move to know that he was safe. Maybe then, his girlfriend….

"Do you really want to?" The question came, just as steady and sure. For a moment, hesitation marred her eyes as she watched him. The beautiful shoulders began to slump, turning toward the floor as her fingers twisted together. "Perhaps you're just concerned. It's understandable; he was your comrade." The white prince leaned against the opposite sill, sunlight reflecting against his paper white skin. She turned away, staring out over the fields rather than face him. It was pathetic to….

"I just want to know he's alright," she murmured finally, her slumped shoulders and tired eyes giving testament to her thoughts. Even if this dark moon prince hadn't spent the last few months watching her, practically stalking her through the corridors of the palace, he would have known in that instant. It was useless.

"I assure you, the prince is perfectly content."

The idea of him calm and cool despite her disappearance brought more tears, more sorrow. She shook, and in despair cried out. The cold way Mamoru had always regarded her, for years now, came burning into her head. So calculating, so strangely manipulative. Not, perhaps, the way others would. No, he had always twisted the situation to his benefit, latched on to the Senshi while it was convenient and scurried away when it wasn't.

The sobs racked her. That tortured, dark twist in her ribs that brought with it all the loneliness, all the heartache that had crushed her since that moment on the street; it was too much! Was she crazy? Was she losing her mind over him? Why did she persist in wanting someone who had told her–multiple times–that he couldn't stand her?

Her trembling hands clutched across her stomach, her mouth. The tears fell. Diamond blurred to a white mass before her eyes, outlined in sunlight and dark wood. She sobbed, wishing still that it was Mamoru standing before her. Then he could tell her–again–that she meant nothing, that their past was something he'd rather leave behind. As much as she could replay that conversation over and over and over in her own mind, to hear him say it again might make the moment real. Then maybe, if she gave all of herself for it, she could let go.

"I'm sure he is." The agonized whisper fell from dead lips as she turned to run.

"Usako, stop!" The image blurred as her tired eyes died a little more. His own face, cold and glowering flashed through the abyss, glaring at the blond as she played with her friends. Even as the thought skewered his heart, he saw those soft blue eyes turn his way, register the anger on his face and shudder in response to it.

But she didn't see that he'd just realized she was breaking him. She didn't see the anger masked a growing infatuation that would one day consume everything. There could have been no indication from him that could express how those emotions were eating him alive; so he glared, hating that she had that power. Hating that she could melt through his wall like it was nothing.

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…

AN: So…don't hate me…I know it's short, and I haven't posted in forever, but I promise it's because I'm working my butt off on other things! I do have another short I'll be putting up before Christmas hopefully, so you will hear from me again before the year's out.

As always, HUGE love and hugs to my editor, slightlyxjaded who keeps me motivated and laughing!

Don't forget to check out my face book page /ellourrahlofthousefiction for exclusive drabbles and news, I've got some original stuff I'll be posting there pretty soon.

Oh! And don't forget to drop me a line! LOVE!

E


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Be still.

Emerald eyes drifted closed once more, and leaked the hopelessness from within. How long had she been here, waiting alone in the darkness? How long had the void cackled and howled, the voices tearing through her mind, through her soul? The visions of Usagi, dead, torn limb from limb, crying and alone, haunted every moment of this hellish landscape. None of it was real, none of this nightmare had ever been.

A tired sob pulled at her, suckled deep within her heaving chest. The pile of auburn locks cushioning her head was brittle with dried blood. The manifold cuts tore her fuku to ribbons, the sticky pull of liquid coated down the front of the uniform. How long since she'd cut her neck? She groaned, flinching crusted fingers. It was too far away.

She was so tired.

All around, the voices howled and taunted, their words almost lost on the subdued Senshi. It was pointless to listen, to force those words away again. It didn't matter. She was no closer to finding Usagi, and none of her sister warriors had surfaced through the mist. There was no telling if any of them had survived, had seen through the mirage. The vision of the zombie droids still bothered her, even though she knew it wasn't real. The idea of fighting her own friends made her flesh crawl.

She had always been alone.

Desperate for any sense of hope; clinging to this thought as if it were the only truth, Jupiter wept. The constant feel of roots reaching down from her core slid across the black obsidian floor without purchase. She longed for the feel of earth beneath her feet, the wind pulling her hair back; as wild and free as she was. How she ached for the touch of nature; anything but this underworld. It was so dead. So…empty.

The sobs sucked at her, the sound of her own voice ricocheting through the darkness no greater comfort than what had been there before. With each deep, aching cry of horror, of pain, that hopelessness grew. The need for life grew.

Silently, perhaps without knowing, the invisible roots stretched further down, deep, deep beneath the layers of stone. It traveled on, but not so far that she couldn't sense the tiny prick of light. Like a flower thrusting from deep snow, life pulsed back. The yearning, growing need clung to that hope and fed.

A pulse crackled from her trembling fingers.

She coughed. The sudden ache in her neck shrieked a moment against the flicker of electricity. Despite the pain, the surge of power continued from within. Further, the tunnels stretched down below, deep into the earth, deep into herself. The voices stilled then. She stilled.

Pulsing life fed back to her from the link, pulling strength into her bones, the muscle, the sinew. Jupiter drew a steady breath, feeling that stillness, that life beating like a heart beside her own. Her trembling fingers flashed and sparked. The air lit. All around, the ghosting faces snarled and raged in the unsteady light, clawing at the air, fighting.

The breath left her in a concussive boom; crackling, pent up energy pulsing through her cells, through her being with such force that it drew the Amazon up from her place on the floor. With a grimace, she flared that power outward, crashing through the faces and sounds around her with a rampant howl that rocked against the blackness. A grin bit her mouth. Her skin exploded in hissing lights, her eyes flared and hardened.

In one movement, the warrior dove for the ground, smashing a fist deep into the stone. The quartz snapped, shattering around her first blow like a window. The shocks slithered along each fault, their hissing a welcome answer to the hopelessness she'd felt not moments before.

The smirk grew. Each explosive pummel of her fist sent the ground shaking, trembling in terror and anticipation. The pebbles gave way, their glittering facets sparkling in the unsteady light crackling around her.

Some had brains, but others….

.

.

…..

"There's always a redhead," the girl commented softly, her eyes shimmering. With her knees drawn up close and the sweet arms piled on top of them, she leaned forward to rest her chin against the soft flesh. Winter sunlight drifted through the silvery locks, the falling snow a lacey shadow from outside.

"Oh?" the white prince asked quietly, lifting his eyes from a large tome. The glimmering figure barely moved, a ball of tightly bound emotions slowly simmering to the surface. Her eyes were dark and tired, her skin lackluster.

"I…I think he would have liked someone like that." Her voice sifted out from her frame on ghostly fingers. The cover was closed with great care, violet eyes soaking in her form. She silhouetted the hazy sunlight in lines that made him shudder with desire.

"Endymion again?" he mused, setting the book aside. His ward crumpled at the name, sent the silver mane fanning across her arms.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it."

He stood, allowing the white locks of hair to fall to the side. She glanced up from her place, turning toward the falling snow. Her long silver hair piled against the floor, mingling with cream drapes and the trailing edge of her white gown. He stepped close, fingers twitching toward her figure as ravenous eyes tore through her.

"It will fade in time, Serenity. As I promised." The murmur left his mouth as steady and quiet as her own voice had been. Still, she didn't turn, didn't seem to acknowledge him.

"No," she whispered, voice conveying her certainty. "I'm a prisoner. Even when he's not here…."

"Shh, little one." His fingers traced along her spine, loving how the gown clung to her. She sobbed helplessly, fingers tightening until her skin mottled with the effort.

"He's got a girlfriend. I need to let it go and I can't!" The bond linking them together felt so thin. A single movement could break them, and she dreaded even that. After all the pain, the months spent here in a dark palace, still she couldn't seem to release that hold on herself.

"You will find happiness, my pet." He knelt beside the figure, touching her unclad feet softly. "Someday, we'll see that fire in your eyes again. Someday this will be a bad memory." His fingertips brushed along the skin of her feet, tracing the line of her toes down over the sill. Her bleary lavender eyes peered down from above, blinking and dribbling tears as she sniffed.

"How can I? Even if I forget, the second I see him I'll just…." The words broke as she sobbed, clenching herself tighter. Piles of her hair spread across his hands, and he couldn't help but finger a lock curiously.

"I know. And he will continue to do what he does best." The prince gave a sad little smile, one she shuddered away from. It was true. She had waited and hoped and begged for so long now, only to be met with disinterest, sometimes even outright refusal. He was so cold. In the rain, terrified of thunder, shaking, she'd clung to him. Instead, Mamoru had pushed her away, met her fear with cynicism. The glistening lilac eyes hardened at the idea, suddenly hating him for his cool confidence, his removal.

"I know he will."

"He's twisting you!" Mamoru screamed at the image, watched as Diamond pressed a gentle kiss to her feet in adoration. "Usako, don't let him get in your head!" His fists pounded against the barrier, though he must have done it a million times by now. Every single moment he watched her turn further and further away, watched the fire die in her eyes. This prince who had come to 'rescue' her was destroying all that Usagi was meant to be. For pride. For power. It was sickening.

"I hardly need to. You've done quite enough on your own." That voice haunted his thoughts, every moment of every day tearing through him, reminding him of his failure to act. The rage no longer burned cold, driven nearly to the point of madness he lashed out with the smoking bomber, knowing it would fail even before the explosion rocked the void.

"Leave her alone, damnit! Let her be! You're hurting her!" He threw another, releasing the pent up insanity before it ate him alive. It didn't matter. His ghostly tormentor would never allow the attack to hit, always hiding behind his crystals, his cowardice.

"No, you are," Diamond snarled, lashing out with a fist. It slammed into Mamoru's chin, sent him crashing into the floor. His enemy towered from above, all ice and death. "You always will, you pathetic excuse of a man. How dare you stomp on her! How dare you lie through your teeth knowing it would crush her? You are not worthy! You are nothing but a bruise she may never heal from!"

"I was protecting her!" he raged from the ground, scrambling forward to tear at the frost-colored legs. Anything, anything he could do to stop the images from coming, to protect her from being hurt. His hands swept through air, emptiness answered back. He was losing his mind.

"Does she need your protection?" The cynical scoff hit like a slap. "She will one day be the most powerful force in the universe–what could you possibly offer a being like that?"

It was true. How many times had he watched her overcome impossible odds? How many times had her unbreakable spirit dominated the field? He growled, slamming a fist against the ground in anger. She didn't need him. She never really had.

"I know!" he choked, falling to his knees. "I know."

.

.

….

The sounds of clawing seemed to shift, and she could feel the weight of her attacker pressing down against her chest. For a crazed, half-hoped moment, she could almost imagine that she'd defeated the terrifying specter, and yet...

The weight in her chest felt wrong, and the scraping could not have come from claws on crystal. No, this was more like a sliding scratch that pulled slowly through her ears.

Her foot felt strange.

With a stifled moan, both winter blue eyes fell open at last, caught against the passing flame of a lamp. The weight in her chest felt bruised rather than pressed, and her foot felt cold. Too cold...

Another rough pull yanked against sinew and bone, and she felt herself rise automatically. There was pain, oh, so much agony flaring from her ankle, and the vicious tug only drove that anguish straight through her skull. Hazy, aching eyes traced the shape of her leg curiously, and locked against the spike driven through her ankle.

The black-gloved hand pulled again, this time tearing through skin.

Mercury yanked back on her leg, sent the spike digging deeper into the flesh. The emerald woman flinched, her elongated arms slipping on blood and boot. It only took the spare moment to blast a wall of mist between them, quickly cutting off her captor's sight. There was just enough time to rip the spike free, pull the flesh together, seal it with frozen blood before the snake-like leather arms whipped through the fog.

The blunette leapt back, falling against the ground as her leg gave way. The stones cut through her knees, sliced her gloves at the palms and fingers. The demon hands swept high though, ruffling the fringe of her hair in their passing. Blue eyes narrowed dangerously, and her gaze focused downward.

The stones beneath them were different. Where the obsidian of the cascade had been smooth and mirror-like, these jagged chunks were worn at the top, as if only the passing foot traffic had had a chance to wear them down. It was dry, a perfect opportunity to flood the spaces between with her mist.

In one movement, the white wall fell in a heap around them, draining into the crevices and pooling at their feet. The hands swiped again, but she was faster. A quick roll landed her firm against a steel door, her bleeding hands almost freezing against the surface as the opponent advanced slowly.

"Think you scare me, little kid? You don't even register..." The woman stopped short, her startled gasp rounding out the thought. The flashes of ice shard penetrated deeply, burned with a cold fire that screamed through the nerves. Mercury shifted her feet below, careful to lend less weight to her injured leg.

"Think again. Perhaps I am not much in stature," she paused, straightening from her stance carefully, "but unlike you, I know anatomy."

With a flare of power, the shards of ice lodged in tight black fabric melted, and the ground received those patters like a starving animal. The green-haired woman shrieked as her legs collapsed, as her blood fled freely across black crystal.

"I don't appreciate the piercing job you've done. Maybe with some practice, you could improve." The blood frosted around her on the ground, swathes of swirling ice skating through the top of the liquid before lunging toward the open veins.

She didn't even have time for a snappy comeback.

"I'll have to remember that one for later," the genius murmured, pressing her ear for the visor and turning away without another thought.

.

.

….

Merry Christmas! Sorry to get this out the day after, but you know how it goes :) More to come, so stick around! I'll hopefully have a Christmas themed drabble up on the facebook page sometime in the next week, so be sure to check that out!

As always, huge thanks for slightlyxjaded for editing this! You're awesome!

E


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Heat seared the darkness into waves before her face, the tricky pockets of otherworld would ignite on contact and wither away to ash as she walked. The dream cascade was easy enough to elude, but there was no sense of direction, and certainly no hint given from the spirit world. Above, the voices cackled and howled, but thankfully the sounds of flame smothered the words. The pathless room led onward and she walked. It had to lead to something. It had to lead to Usagi.

The first few hours came and went without incident short of the flashing pockets. Her unclad feet slapped against the smooth crystal unevenly. Her ankle still throbbed. Had it only been pain, she could have ignored it. Every wasted second though led to darker and darker thoughts. The white prince had made his intentions all too clear on his arrival. At this point, it would be a miracle to find her princess unscathed.

Each thought had her blood raging hotter.

"Hello?" the priestess called, staring hard through the abyss. There was a subtle shift in the fabric of nothingness, something far enough away she couldn't quite make out the shape. The white gloves whined as her fists clenched hotly. If it was another mirage of Serenity….

"Hello! Mars!" Even the sound of his voice made the hatred simmer in response. Mamoru. It was the last person she had wanted to run into. The likelihood of hauling his miserable butt to the ground and beating that face to a pulp seemed all too real. He'd hurt her. Usagi. He'd closed her completely out of his life as if it couldn't affect her.

He may as well have killed her.

She hobbled on toward the disturbance, angry and confused. How had he gotten here? Why hadn't he just wandered off after the enemy snatched them? It wasn't like he cared at all for the little blond. It wasn't like he thought the Senshi couldn't protect their own charge. Violet eyes burned. Part of her hoped he really was a mirage.

That way, she could live out the weeks-old fantasy to her heart's content.

The figure stood as she drew near, his ash-covered face and torn clothing a good indication he'd been fighting droids as well. Half a sleeve was missing, his eyes dark and bruised. It didn't exactly raise sympathy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The fire Senshi leaned back, crossing her arms in expectation. The Terran prince was such a pathetic human being these days. It hadn't been so far in the past when he'd inspired fear in the hearts of Lunarian spies. Of course, without his generals beside him, she'd often wondered what kind of a threat he posed.

"Wha…Mars, I was standing right there…!" he ground out, but she was quick to cut through his worthless reply.

"No, I mean why not just keep sleeping? You made it pretty obvious you didn't care that she was in trouble." There was no need to drop the name. They'd waited what seemed like hours for the masked hero to show his dithering face as Usagi slipped further and further away from them. It had been particularly frustrating because his apartment from the park was only about twenty minutes of running, and he'd shown up on a bike.

Maybe he'd been on a date with his new girlfriend. The fierce loyalty burning a hole in her chest howled angrily at the thought. Usagi deserved so much better than this. In time, she'd see that and leave him to his little games.

His only answer was silence and the tightening of his jaw.

"You haven't found a way out anyway. Seen the others?" Mars asked crisply, glancing around the emptiness as if it hadn't continued on into forever.

"Just Usa," he muttered quietly, his eyes latched to the ornate frame at his side. She nearly choked.

"The hell you did! What, did you just let her wander on by? You moron!" Again, she flared angrily, air hissing and screeching as the fire raged hot and loud. He didn't even flinch in the face of her wrath, though, stepping forward and motioning to the object to his right.

"She's on the other side of this thing! I can't blast my way through!" The violet eyes slipped toward it, wondering how something so commonplace could withstand someone of his power. It was probably some ridiculous excuse to get him out of helping them. Why had he come again? Had their enemy grabbed him too without knowing what a waste of time it was?

"Pathetic. Some prince." The raven-haired girl glowered angrily, shoving at his chest to gain access to the mirror. There was nothing though, not even a reflection. Curious, she stretched a hand out and stepped forward, passing through as if nothing had ever been there. "No wonder you can't blow it up. It doesn't exist." The cynical grimace couldn't be held back as she looped one arm around the gilded silver and wiggled her fingers to demonstrate.

"No…" Kamen raged forward, roughly pulling the Senshi aside to check for himself. Instead, his hand met smooth glass, and beyond, the shadows of her bedroom. How was it possible? He shoved at the pane again, pressing his weight to it and charging the bomber one last time. If Mars could reach right through, how come he couldn't?

"That's…interesting," the girl muttered, watching as his weight pressed against nothing, but didn't fall through. Again, she came forward to check if the glass was in place as Mamoru's movements suggested, but her glove met no resistance. "It must be programmed against you."

"What do you see on the other side?" he growled, fists glowing gold. The charge was ready and she'd seen the devastating effects of his Smoking Bomber in the last few weeks enough not to question it. She didn't dare step forward again, but then, she didn't have to.

"It looks like a frame to me. Nothing else." Her flickering purple eyes turned from one to the other, curious to see him tense immediately.

"But that's her room! That…freak gave it to her. He won't leave her alone!" He was shaking with anger, the golden light of his hands pulsing higher into both arms. Mamoru, almost always the stoic, was raging.

"What?" she asked sharply, features hardening. "Has he…?" She stepped forward, felt the fire rise within herself at the mention of possible harm to her charge.

"No, not that I can tell. He's making me watch." The towering man grimaced, the fury more than evident on his face. "He's trying to court her."

The flames died just as quickly.

"…I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said he's trying," the tall man snapped, turning a hard face on the girl behind him. She didn't bother to budge. Even at his strongest, Endymion himself was nothing more than a nuisance compared to the strength of the Senshi team. Besides, he wasn't one to take a life without reason.

"Right, and making you watch," she noted curiously. "This doesn't make any sense. You don't even care."

He scoffed, letting his head rest against the glass, as if it were too much effort to try and dissuade her. For the last several months, she'd had to piece together the bits of her own broken heart and take a step back. After all, a silly schoolgirl crush was nothing compared to soulmates. She hadn't bothered to even bring it up once his identity was known because what good would it do to throw a fit about it?

She'd liked him. She'd asked him out a few times. He'd never really been that interested.

Right up until a few weeks ago, it was assumed that Usagi had always been his target. Until a few weeks ago, he seemed blissfully, if silently, happy. Then the truth came out, the breakup, the slow drain on her silly friend that sucked at soul and life, and left her nearly dead with grief. Rei felt only the pull from Usagi, nothing from Mamoru. Not even remorse.

Being forced into a relationship could do that to a man, once he got his head on straight. The blond had just assumed everything would fall into place after the Doom Tree and who was Rei to say otherwise? Mamoru wasn't the attaching type. He didn't take things for granted because he had nothing to begin with. Tossing the little firecracker aside had been so easy for him.

So why was he being forced to watch?

Unless it was all a lie.

"Gods," she muttered finally, the obviousness slapping her in the face. "You really do love her."

He said nothing, just shot an irritated glare her direction.

"Really? I thought you were just…I don't know…bored." It was strange to be privy to something so intensely personal. How many times had she screamed and fought against her own father, hating him for never being there, and still burning because she wanted him to try harder, to reach out to her more. Was Mamoru really that different? He seemed to be fighting the part of himself destined to love Usagi because of some…ridiculous bit of information she was positive didn't matter at all!

Her own father was so bound up in obligations that she often felt like he used her for political gain. It was a hard fact to swallow, even when he offered to buy her dinner when it was just the two of them. The truth of the matter was, her father had no idea how to raise anyone. After the death of her mother at such a young age, of course he'd shuttered himself away into politics. They were easier. They didn't hurt.

It was exactly what Mamoru was doing.

"Bored. Yeah, that sums up the last year." The grimace made his words feel tight. In part, it flared that hatred so high, she nearly summoned her mandala just to finish the task left over from the Silver Millennium. At the same time, it was so hard not to see exactly where he was coming from. To be so close, so certain when everything else felt like it was falling apart, to know that screwing up was inevitable; how could he not run?

"So…the whole breakup thing…" she tried quietly, afraid of what his answer might be. The telltale signs were burned into his clothing, dripping from tired shoulders. Of course he loved Usagi. He looked like hell, and yet the only thing he seemed to care about was the window. Even facing off against a raging fire Senshi, he just didn't bother to fight back, because all he wanted was on the other side.

How had she not seen it?

"That is none of your damn business!" he snapped, his forehead pressed to invisible glass.

It was all there. She'd been right in the first place. The moment Usagi came within eyesight, the cold upperclassman practically melted into cynical teasing. He never looked anywhere else, much to the dismay of the younger girl. All those months wondering why the two hated each other so much snapped into place. Because Mamoru had loved her from the very beginning; enough to set aside everything he had been before just to get her attention.

Did Usagi realize how deep it went? Mamoru was classically stone-faced about everything, never shared, and never bothered to pretend it was more. How much of that was a ruse? How much of that was the damage of a hard life? What if he'd come finally, not because Luna had begged, but because she was in danger? What if their counselor had tried to set boundaries before he got there?

"You have to tell her," Rei whispered harshly, knowing now how truly twisted the backstory went. The girlfriend was obviously some sort of ploy and she suspected it to be to the benefit of her little blond friend. It wasn't fair though because Usagi had a right to know what he was doing, and why. She had a right to choose for herself!

"Excuse me?" he grumbled, risking a glance back at her.

"I said you have to tell her, you moron! You're killing her!" There was so much hatred in her voice; seeing him so similar to her own father made the situation unbearable. Usagi did not deserve this. It was better to have her heartbroken and angry, ready to move on and let this go, rather than wallow in a pit of self-loathing. Maybe his actions made sense and maybe they'd get out of all this alive, but Usagi had better know exactly what she would have fallen into had he stuck around.

"I'm killing her, hu? Not that freak on the other side of the glass?" he scoffed, shaking his head. "Silly me."

"You owe it to her," the priestess repeated, this time flaring in irritation. The air sizzled and popped around her as she spoke. It was a disturbing mix of understanding, compassion, hatred and vengeance running magma-like rivers through her blood. It would have been better to finish this millennia ago.

"I don't owe anyone anything!" he tried again, this time searching for an exit. Anything was better than facing Rei right now with that stupid compassion burning in her violet eyes. As if she knew there was more to the situation. As if she cared.

"You're wrong, Mamoru-san. You owe Usagi. You owe her everything." He tried to turn away, he tried desperately to blot out the sound of her bonfire voice. It was useless. She was the fiery conscience that scalded him every moment, finally giving voice to things he had known and yet denied. "She brought you back from the dead after you tried to kill her. She kept the faith while you played hard to get. She still believes in you, even after that girl today."

His shoulders ached with tension and the glass still wouldn't give beneath the pressure. It was less about saving her though and more about escaping the inevitable. Rei, with her powers of insight and intuition, had gleaned more than she let on; and knowing her, the information wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of never being passed to Usagi.

"More importantly, you owe her because you owe it to yourself."

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!" he growled, turning on the raven-haired beauty with all his rage. She, of all of them, was closest to him in temperament, in experience. And it licked at him, knowing that even Rei felt it was unfair. It burned because she was right, because he'd lied and run. He'd been the coward.

"You're right, I suppose. Usagi can just...move on. Because she's so very good at that." Mars stepped toward him, the air around her so hot it burned against his face. "Leaving people behind, focusing only on herself." After the multiple explosions against glass and the shrapnel that had already shredded his skin, it was nothing. But her fire had always burned more than the physical. Her words branded him a traitor. "You're a buffoon."

He was quiet, face turned toward the ground. There was nothing to be said right now. He had known all this time. Usagi was incapable of leaving anyone behind. It simply wasn't in her to give up.

And he had betrayed her in that way. He had acted knowing that her nature would never allow it. He had tried to change her–his Usako. It was worse than treason.

"I wish you two had never met," Mars said finally, straightening.

"That's two of us." His quiet mutter gave no evidence of his thoughts. It wasn't Rei's moment to have, but his to endure. He had done all of this by not trusting in her, by not being her companion, her equal. All the Senshi did now was shove it all back in his face and prove forever why he would never be worthy of her love.

"She deserves better than you!" Her quiet voice grew intense with heat, as if she could broil his flesh with the tone.

"I know." It was all he could offer. The tumultuous, raging emotions slowly filleting his soul to ribbons probably would have made the others back off. Still, he couldn't bear to say his failure out loud, couldn't bear to think the words he already knew were true. "We aren't together anymore. You know that."

"No. I see you trying, intentionally, to hurt my dearest friend. I see you lashing out like an angry child. And I don't know why! She loves you way more than she should and way, way more than you deserve."

She turned, stalking quickly away from him. He watched, just long enough to know he deserved this fate. Watching Diamond slowly twist her out of her right mind was probably the worst kind of torture he could possibly endure. The vibrant, soulful girl was losing her spark by the minute. So much of that blame lay on him now; it was worthless to think her fate may have been sealed weeks in the past.

But he'd hoped for so much more for her and of her. That beautiful, sweet girl with the world at her feet could achieve anything she desired and he'd wanted nothing more than exactly that. How could he be the one to give it though? He was damaged beyond repair, fallen so far from his princely status that it shouldn't even be considered a credit to him.

If anything, it meant his doom.

"That's it isn't it? You think she deserves someone better too." Her incredulous voice echoed around, her form nearly lost to the shadows.

"She does." It was all he could offer. The truth.

"Hell yes and don't you dare forget that! Enjoy your show. I hope you choke on it."

She stormed away, back into the darkness with nothing but true hate writhing in her gut.

She didn't see him slam into the barrier between, trapped to the mirror and helpless.

.

.

….

"Venus! Love me chain!" The heavy clack of metal whipped through the darkness, snatched his head at just the right angle to send him flying. Her breath beat hard to the chest, legs pumping furiously to catch her prey mid-fall. The blood-dipped chain drew itself up as she passed, glinting hungrily in the street lamps. He wouldn't get away this time. Not after what he'd done.

"You took her." The golden chain snapped again, roaring and hungry and wet. "You hurt her." The street ran and glinted in half-light, darker than sin and slow as mud. "You raped her! You bastard!"

The golden flick ran deep with blood at every stroke; the anguished cry of a man dying beneath her fury only served to whip the blond into a frenzy. There was no forgiveness for the likes of him, no world where such a being could be allowed to exist. Her face splattered with blood and grey matter, her suit dripped thick sludge to the ground.

It was over. His bludgeoned, rankled form no longer bore the features of a human man.

She bent, lifting the scrap of white now stained from the puddle at her feet.

Within moments, the white mask was torn in half, and left like a calling card over his dead body.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The hallways were short and built like old castle paths. The stones this far in seemed much more jagged, and therefore used even less than where she'd been before. The readouts on her screen had been taking three-dimensional photographs since the defeat of the woman in black, but the layout seemed to make no sense. Each shaft twisted and turned, often leading to dead ends and broken stairways. There had to be a maintenance room somewhere.

Icy blue eyes searched through the passageway again, trying to flick through the scans to see if there was a way to cut through the madness. She'd been searching for hours and there were few doorways, often locked. She'd picked them carefully, always watching for one of the Specter Sisters over one shoulder. The rooms were all dim with glass coffins stacked carefully against each other. There hadn't been a circuit board to speak of on any of them, and the purpose was still unknown.

Everywhere led nowhere. If the death of the woman from before hadn't been enough to cement reality in her mind, she would think this was the cascade. No, there were too many unused rooms, and none of the things found inside could inspire the same kind of fear that the images had.

Footsteps up ahead slithered through the dark hallway. She turned, sprinting as silently as possible back to a room she'd opened further down. It was just in time, Birdie and Catsi ambled past. Neither made a sound. It wasn't the first time she'd looked back on Rei's training exercises with gratitude.

The two wandered by without incident. Mercury's ankle was throbbing, both from the cold of her patch made of ice, and from being run on without having a chance to heal. She'd been lucky, even half an inch either way and the woman in black may have severed a major tendon. Her fingers were trembling in fear–not at being caught, but in raising the alarm. If she could somehow find her way deeper into the fortress, there had to be a power source, or a master computer running the show. Mucking about here in the corridors was pointless. So many rooms with glass coffins seemed overkill for just taking on the Senshi, even the Silver Crystal.

They must be planning something larger in scale. It was the only explanation. The Senshi first, then on the world leaders, then filter down into the populace. It's what she would do herself, given the need.

She slid out from the corner again, moving quickly down toward her original position. There was a formula here. The map continuously building on her screen had to have some sort of algorithm to it, otherwise it would never work in the real world–if that's where they were, anyway.

The steady patter of footsteps up ahead launched her against the wall now. They weren't coming down the hallway though; they seemed to be fading away. A door hinge creaked in the silence, then closed again and the sounds were gone. A slow, cold smile spread across her face at the thought.

So many high ranking enemies in one place could only mean she was close.

.

.

…

The crushed chunks of obsidian splashed with each blow, shooting up and out of the massive hole slowly widening with each punch. Her fists were bloodied and sore. The gloves were tatters hanging from thumb and fist. Still, she swept the remaining shards away and kept going.

There was earth further down or some sort of wiring. Either could be used if she were to get her hands on it. The voices above were beginning to dim this far into the crater; of course her thunderous growling could be to blame for that. The broken rock peppered the skin of her knuckles with fiery pain.

It didn't matter.

Her senses were reaching, stretching through the floor as they'd done so long ago, searching for any presence of life. She'd been at it for hours with no success, but it had to be here. There had to be some way to get to Usagi.

There. The lightning strike of certainty pinpricked the center of her hole. The brunette swept aside the debris as best she could, green eyes searching the mottled black mess of stone. There was nothing to be seen, just the tiny veins of pale orange that broke up the darkness as it had before. Her senses confirmed it though; not far down lay the loamy bed of earth she desperately needed to enact her plan.

.

.

…

Some would say it wasn't fair. Goodness begets goodness, and evil for evil. All of the fighting piled on the shoulders of such young girls seemed a weight too heavy to lift sometimes. Watching the childish gleam sputter out in their eyes had to be the worst part of it. They had so much potential, so much power and life.

She'd pushed them hard, as she'd sworn to do the day of the great ascension in the past. She'd given her word to the Queen that the Senshi would be ready this time, that they would win against Beryl and Metalia. They had. It had taken almost a year, had cost the girls their lives, but the mission was a success.

It should have been enough. It wasn't fair.

Stealthy black paws slithered through the darkened passageways into a room dimly lit by a central black stone. Cinnamon eyes gleamed in low light, taking in her surroundings carefully. The cavern was practically empty, with nothing but stacks of large boxes leaning upright against the walls. The ceiling above was lost in shadow. Across the floor, she stalked toward the one open box, careful not to touch the glittering substance crusting the floor. It was vacant.

The shattered lid bent inward with some force, and splatters of fresh blood sat cooling against the stone base. Whatever had been inside was gone. Scraps of tattered white fabric clung to a shard of glass by the bottom, stained in places by blood or something worse. It smelled too familiar to ignore, but a second scent was much stronger.

She scrambled into the box, searching for clues. There was only one, though. The dusted outline of heeled boots against the floor were smudged, but Mercury had been here not too long ago.

.

.

…..

"I think I'm ready," she whispered, standing at the head of his desk. Her shoulders no longer slumped, her gaze steady. The slight lilac cast of her eyes made the figure appear more ghostly and pale. Her dark violet dress seemed to hang from shoulders too small to carry something so ornate. "Thank you for letting me take some time."

Mamoru could do nothing but watch, knowing now more than ever that the spark was gone. The hollow face, the protruding clavicle was so unlike the vivacious, beautiful girl he knew. Her flesh was wan and drawn tight, her fingers drifted across the desk top with little interest or direction.

"It was my pleasure, your highness." Diamond's smile was meant to be warm. The snake-like face was more and more triumphant every time it appeared, even as she wasted away. How anyone could take pleasure watching the slow wilt would never make sense to him.

"Will you walk with me?" the princess asked, her voice barely a whisper from the dust. It still hurt, right below his ribcage where she would always have access. Her dead tone, the strange dream shade that coated this world made it all surreal and far away–as if he'd wake in his bed tomorrow and realize it was just another nasty dream.

"Of course." The book was set aside, the reading glasses taken down from his face. The white prince stood, quickly taking her hand around the crook of his arm as they turned toward the door. The strange triumph that had gleamed at first glance had been hidden again, now that she stood beside him. In another world, another time, it could have been Mamoru at her side. The idea brought with it a pink-cheeked smiling angel, filled with life and playful scheming.

A different person.

"I wonder how much things have changed," she muttered thoughtfully, tugging at her silver hair in curiosity. His view followed them as they walked, but even her gait no longer held the natural sway he'd known by heart. She was a doll pulled on strings with wooden movement.

"Nothing has. This is a space between times. You'll wake in the morning, alone in your room."

A door swirled together at the end of the hall as if it had been there all along. The two continued their quiet walk toward it, as if she wasn't particularly excited to be free. It made sense though, with all that beautiful light bled away, how could she possibly want to go anywhere? Her friends were here, trapped within the walls of the cascade with no hope of following.

How would she survive in a world like that?

Would she even want to?

He slid to his knees again, pressing his head against the glass as the worry began to gnaw at his gut. After watching her death on the Moon Kingdom, what would she do once home? The memory of her blood-stained blue dress, the broken flesh of her face against glass was a terrifying reminder of what she could do once left alone.

"I see." Her voice was quiet, polished. The door opened to a swirling black mass of mist and lightning. Neither hesitated a moment before stepping through. Her glassy eyes didn't register Diamond, or the hall, or the darkness.

It didn't last long. The familiar lights of her street bled through within minutes, the darkness as present as it had been during the initial fight. The family car was parked in the driveway, the front door unlocked. Her hand gripped the metal knob and pushed though she was still holding her kidnapper's arm. It must have jolted her out of the trance; her fingers flinched away from him. Even through the mirror he could see her shudder.

"Serenity," he murmured, his fingers catching her hand as she turned. The woman hesitated to look back at him. "I know you'll wish to end things. Allow me to offer an alternative." A ring box was produced between them, artificially bright in the sullen shadows of her front door. He flicked the top open, but there was no real response from her in return. "At least consider it, your highness. It may not be the ideal for you, but I can offer a place where he can never come."

Her sad purple eyes drew up slowly from the gift, but again, it was without expression. The piece was pressed into her hand, the fingers pushed into place above the lid. She said nothing, simply nodded and turned to disappear into her home as if nothing had happened.

He watched as she slid through the front room, past a family picture that must have been fairly recent. The mischievous grin and ridiculous pose bore no resemblance at all to the specter as she ghosted silently by. Her footsteps lead to the kitchen, where a half-eaten lump lay on a plate on the floor. When her eyes settled on it, she sighed quietly and turned to grab the mop. Her mess was cleaned, the plate washed and put away. The light remained off during the ordeal. Obviously, she hadn't thought it was that important.

Something glittering was pulled from a drawer before she turned and slid up the stairs with slow, painful steps. He tried to see what she'd taken; the memory of her last words before death was already burning in the back of his mind. The mirror lent only one perspective, though, and it was perfect to hide her hands as she walked right past her bedroom door and toward the bathroom.

It was too dark to see much of anything. The tap exploded, pushing every other sound away. The shadow was undressing, but his eyes were working restlessly to see what she'd grabbed from the kitchen. The room held its secret, coating everything in a haze so thick he could barely make out her form, let alone something smaller.

The figure slipped over the edge of the tub and into the water. Her hair had been released from the buns, her fingers trailed the edge of the bath listlessly as she stared up at the ceiling. He could barely make out the shape of the ring box further down and had to squelch the irrational desire to knock it the hell away from her. Why she was even sitting with it, even bothering to think about it had to be part of the madness.

A passing car shone lights in through the window, illuminating the room just enough to see what she was toying with. A cold chill pressed his skin up at the sight. His hands slammed against the glass, leaping to his feet as the freeze spread out from his chest. The knife shone cold against her fingers, long and sharp.

"Gods, Usako, don't! Please! Please don't! You can't!" The incoherent scream went unnoticed as she continued to finger the blade thoughtfully. He slammed his hands again, begging, pleading for her to listen. It was no use. She couldn't hear him. She never could.

The woman stilled finally, sitting up to reach for the box with hesitant fingers. She flicked the lid open, staring at the ring inside with the same blank expression. He could see her eyes moving from one item to the other, thinking, quietly considering the options.

His chest constricted. The agonized moment spread forever into the future. Another car passed, igniting the strange pastel eyes with an eerie glow. There was no emotion on her face. She would never though, not with her family sleeping just down the hall. The ring was plucked free gently; some monstrosity of a thing so overly encrusted with gems that the size of it would fill to the first knuckle.

"At least someone will be happy," she murmured finally, settling the piece over her finger before sliding beneath the water.

.

.

….

"Eighty years in a space between times," the white prince muttered, as if he himself could hardly believe it. "Who knew a lifetime was all it took to erase a few short weeks?" Mamoru spun, eyes burning against the bright white jacket. He snarled in anger, coming forward to attempt another run at the white prince.

It was worthless. With a simple gesture, he was knocked from his feet and pinned to the ground without so much as a glance from Diamond on the way. The struggle was brief, it only took a few tugs to realize he'd been secured to the floor.

His chest froze hard as the prince came forward. There was death in his eyes, an inhuman wildness to his sneer that could only mean this was the end. Mamoru fought harder, forcing himself to remember the broken girl laying beneath the water, forcing himself to live for her. The ground was beginning to melt beneath him, giving way only to suckle the strength from his limbs, trap every finger beneath the molten mess of rock.

Diamond knelt beside the struggling figure, the quiet rage that had fueled his attack doubled in on itself. The King was such a worthless creature, hardly even capable of defending himself.

"And now, I release you. You have done enough damage."

The ground disintegrated, and Mamoru fell without another sound.

.

.

…..

AN

Sorry guys! I promise I haven't forgotten you, or the unfinished projects on here. Watching the new Crystal Episodes has been a bit of a guilt trip to get the rest of this out. We have a few more chapters coming up, but the end is in sight! Hope you've been enjoying thus far!

For those interested in updates, check out my facebook page /ellourrahlofthousefiction, hopefully I'll have some fun drabbles up there soon :)

Thanks as always to slightlyxjaded for editing this! Girl's super busy!

And, as always, thanks so much to my wonderful reviewers! I love you guys!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The arcade blipped and binged awkwardly. It sent the young man's thoughts trailing through the past. There was a paper to consider, a night class he would eventually have to leave for, and something else. The feeling was strange, like he'd forgotten something terribly important. He hardly had time to cook, so it wasn't the oven. So far as he knew, there were no remaining assignments to complete, and after checking his schedule for the fourth time, there were no other classes. Perturbed blue eyes stared at the counter.

Motoki wandered by to refill his coffee. He glanced up at his friend curiously, wondering if maybe it had been something to do with the trickster. The gaze met with a friendly smile which was interrupted by a young girl looking for help with her game. They hadn't had a chance to exchange pleasantries, but that normally didn't bother him.

The door chimed and drew his eyes to the front as she walked in. The breath ripped from his lungs to look at her. Long, gorgeously curled silver hair fell to the floor, her school uniform swishing in the breeze as she stepped through. Those sad, hollow eyes rose to meet his, like the world had been washed blank with barely a hint of life left to show for it. She looked away just as quickly, hastily making her way to the back. His gaze followed, heart aching and screaming in his chest.

There was no Usagi now, just a hollow Serenity. That was what he had forgotten.

He stood to follow, but was brought short as he smacked full-body against the barrier. The girl turned back to him, those gutted eyes barely flickered in response.

"Go away, Chiba-san."

The blast was enough to rocket him backward, over the counter and into the darkness.

"Oh, it is so fulfilling," the icy voice taunted. "Having fun yet?"

He howled, fumbling to his feet to stare into the void. That same chilling laugh rocked the emptiness. He spun, eyeing the mirror, the hollow darkness, and finally, the face of his enemy. Mamoru tore to his feet, snarling and mindless with the need for blood. What he'd done to Usagi….

Instead, the familiar touch of plush carpet brushed his feet. Soft classical was playing from the radio. His living room stretched open and empty, just as he'd left it when Luna came. The light in the kitchen still glowed, dishes lay half-washed in the sink. He turned, the door to his room was wide open, and within, ruddy gold glinted in the soft light.

The delicious curve of his ex-girlfriend blared from one side of the bed, coated the world with silken curls of hair. He nearly jumped from his skin at the sight, allowing the angry fists to fall. She was sleeping.

It couldn't be, though. Mamoru slid forward anxiously, following the soft curve of her hip and shoulder, coming around to watch her face shift in her sleep. The heat burned down his cheeks. She was safe. Oh gods, she was safe and protected here in his apartment. The relief brought him to his knees beside the bed, fingers taut and shaking.

How long had it been since he touched her? Had the dream really gone back years? Cautiously, the slip of a curl whispered through his fingers down the side of the mattress, he reached out to touch her face. He bent, sent a trail of kisses from her forehead down to the shoulder peaking above the covers.

Hard violet eyes snapped open. A hand shoved at his chest hard enough to knock him back into the carpet. The figure rose, her deathly glare filled with hatred and rage. The small, pert lips were split in a snarl.

"Mamoru? Not you again, go away!"

And her nude form slipped from the covers. His jaw dropped at the sight, eyes glued to flesh so perfect and familiar, he could have drawn her blindfolded from a thousand years in the past. The woman climbing to her feet seemed completely unaware of the situation, flinging an arm at him like an accusation.

"What, did your precious little redhead finally wear out?" She came forward. He could almost imagine the carpet fibers catching fire beneath her feet. Desire and confusion were pounding through his veins, making his clothes too tight and his brain too numb to make sense of her words.

"W-who?" All he could see was the bed behind her, the adorable flush of red to her cheeks that had caught him when they first met. The man couldn't help but shudder.

"This time? Why should I care, just get out!" She turned finally, a pale arm reaching for the silken robe hanging on the wall. It didn't help. The thin material slithered across her skin and clung around the chest. The hem licked high against her thighs, creamy and soft and damnit, he was drooling.

"Usako…" he blubbered, fumbling to his knees again. Long pale hands drew the waterfall of curls out from beneath the robe, and the glittering mass fell across her shoulder and breast. All common sense flittered away, blinded by the gorgeous combination of soft champagne skin and forbidden gold.

"Oh, now I'm Usako, hu? Two years after the divorce and now I'm Usako?"

The word stopped everything. A hollow screeching tore at his ears, devastation filled his chest. Divorce? He shuddered, revolted at the very idea even as she came forward with hellfire in her eyes.

"Get out."

The door flicked open beside them, filling the world with violet eyes and a shark's grin. Diamond leaned against the frame casually, undressed to the waist. Mamoru's head spun from one to the other, feeling the same hollowness in his chest blacken and decay

"Well, what have we here?" the white prince queried, opening one arm to allow Usagi a place by his side. The blond wasn't looking at Mamoru, but her hands were spreading across paper-white skin, her eyes were tilted up to the bony, alien face as if begging.

"I was just calling the cops," she purred and the thought made him vomit into the carpet. Within the mess, still beating fragments of a human heart were slowing in rhythm. Inside the blood red depths, her eyes stared back, as angry and accusatory as her naked counterpart. He purged again and again, sweating and screaming as the apartment faded back into the shadows.

"This isn't real. None of this is real!" he howled, hating the White Prince for everything that he'd done. More so, he hated himself. The dreams had been terrible, but not so much as the doubt. He couldn't deny it any longer; the terror had nothing to do with losing her. Instead, it had everything to do with feeling like he couldn't really have her.

So many years spent dreaming of a princess that would someday show herself in the form of a schoolgirl and he had balked, terrified at the reality of her. She wasn't just some dream girl who came to keep him company anymore, she was life and happiness and reality, and he'd bolted in the other direction. How many times in those weeks had he asked himself if it was real, if he would rather be clueless to the whole back story?

It was too much. She was too much. And at the first sign of a chance to run, he'd pounced on it and fled like the coward he was. Because he wasn't sure, he honestly didn't know if he could have her, not really. Dressing up in a tux and fighting demons did not qualify you for the love of someone so…so perfect. It hurt him to be with her. It was a fresh lance through the chest, a shard of crystal to the back, because she was so wonderful, and so caring and sweet, and so very understanding.

That was the worst part. He was sure she'd seen all the way through him and she had not turned away scared. He had. And he wasn't protecting her–not really. He was protecting himself from her. She'd take what little there was left of him and smash it with that joy.

Who would he be then?

Blindly, his fingers scavenged the ground, groping and twisting in the hopes that their bond still existed through the mess. Usagi and Diamond could never be together, not the same way that it was with Serenity and Endymion. Mamoru knew he could never offer that to her, but he'd be damned if he let some asshole steal the possibility away completely.

.

.

…

It was the only place she could be truly alone. Everywhere in her home, preparations were being thrown together, her parents gushed over every little thing, and everyone in town seemed ready to burst with excitement. Diamond had come by only a few times in the weeks to follow–visits she could easily have lived without. Even the idea of someone else touching her made her skin crawl. The second option was still too tempting to consider.

It was for her parents and her friends. They would be too sad to lose her. It was something she'd never stopped to consider during the battle so long ago. If she'd waited a little longer, allowed the blood to cool a little, she would have realized her mother never would have let things stand. It would have been a torturous, lonely hell of a life without him, but at least then it would be knowing that he did love her.

Not some girl he just met.

She sighed, leaning back along the dewy grass. The thoughts mingled with midsummer air, the oppressive scent of rose petals on the wind. It was stupid to come here anyway, surrounded by nothing but reminders of a love that was never meant to be. It hurt, but the dull throb felt like every other time he came to mind. After so long, there really wasn't much of a sting now.

He didn't want to settle for her. That was pretty understandable–if they'd been switched, she wouldn't waste a second. Still, the memories of their love affair from so long ago spoke of passion she would never know again, a connection too impossible and beautiful to ignore. So it was there, branded in the back of her mind with an unwanted wedding looming just weeks into the future.

She pushed her bangs away from the wind, eyes catching against her engagement ring with some disgust. It was nothing like her; just a reminder that Diamond knew nothing about her. He never would. She peeled the hated item from her hand and set it in the grass at her side. There was no point thinking of it, dreading it, hating herself for not being strong enough to just end it. Her family was too important, and a life alone would be nothing but empty reminders of what could have been. It wouldn't be long in those circumstances.

Listlessly, she traced the white puff clouds above with her eyes. The glorious warm weather felt different than it had been the last time she was home. The oppressive heat had been almost unbearable…it was why they'd stopped for ice cream.

A feather-like touch brushed her cheek. She swatted at it, thinking a stray hair had come up in the wind. Her fingers slapped against thick, soft petals, a splash of deep red at the corner of her vision. She turned her head just enough to see the bloom waft in the breeze by her face. Her brow scrunched at the thought. It hadn't been there when she lay down a few hours before. She struggled to sit up, her body so frail and cold that it took all the strength she possessed just to get to her elbows.

The small grass patch was coated in scarlet, the bushes overburdened to the point of breaking with large, heavy roses the color of blood. A chill spread through her back at the sight. The scent was deep and dark, so earthy and raw that the only word to describe it was him. For the first time in ages, her eyes began to mist again, to heat and overflow.

What was happening? The gardens had blossoms when she came, yes, but nothing close to this. Was it something more? Had she finally lost her mind in the desperate attempt to convince herself that it didn't matter? Every time she felt Mamoru finally leave, a thought, a simple whisper would bring him right back. But this….

"Just tell me," she stuttered, her lips trembling with fatigue and heartache. "Tell me again that you hate me, that I'm," her throat caught at the word, so true and harsh and real it was all she could do not to scream it. "Worthless. Just tell me again."

She needed it desperately. He hadn't bothered to show his face since she got home, hadn't cared when her engagement hit the newspapers. He didn't care!

Her heart boomed hard, one thrum of hot pain and anger to fire the nerves to the brink. She shuddered, sobbing and hating herself for getting caught up just because of some stupid….

The next beat hurt, like relief and heartache and fear and love. Her hands trembled, her eyes squeezed tight to push the feeling away. The warmth, the sweetness raged back twice as strong, twice as fast to crush any shield she might put up. The overpowering feeling of him broke through her senses with a baseball bat, a shot of the smoking bomber. Everything she had spent so long convincing herself of felt tattered and glued together in the face of such intense, burning emotion.

Her rib ached like hell! That fiery sensation filled every cell, tore through every door. She screamed, hating how weak and pathetic she sounded. There, in her mind, a picture of her so clear and bright and strong she may have been looking straight into the past. That day, the image of her standing in the setting sun with her ice cream leaking to the sidewalk shattered the hazy afternoon. Every detail of her soft pink tank down to the fibers, of her big blue eyes filled with light and hope, of the tiny freckles she'd always kind of hated on the tips of her cheeks, it was all there.

It wasn't the familiar dull thud of a heart broken too many times though, not like she remembered it. The moment was laced with desperation, longing, fear, and hopelessness. Every tiny sway of hair in the wind, the subtle traces of tears pooling in her eyes was brought back. The frustration and humiliation that drowned every other expression was glaring, and the resulting horror and self-loathing that followed pierced a hole so deeply she nearly fainted there in the grass.

She blinked, stunned and horrified that the memory had not come from her–it couldn't have. Tentatively, she reached for the bond that had once tied them together. It had been so long since she felt it, since she wanted to, that several seconds were spent scrabbling through the air. The thin spider web brushed her knuckle first; another shock of hatred and fear and burning love crashed through her with the weight of a waterfall.

"Mamo-chan?"

Her fingers twisted around the tiny sliver with the first inch of desperation. She blinked, hazy blue eyes watering again as the smallest of tremors answered back.

He screamed, every inch of desperation and anger rushing out in a wave to break against the glass. She felt it! He'd poured every ounce of self through the portal, trying to reach her, trying to feel through the bond and comfort the tiny shell of a girl. She'd been so gray, so sunken and lifeless that the idea she might die there in the gardens outside his apartment had snatched from him any thought of self.

Exhaustion forced his face to the obsidian ground, but still he reached for the glass–knowing she was there, in the world, where the earth could hear his call and answer back. It had been a moment of chance, gripping their bond with what little strength he had left just to keep forcing the roses to grow.

Instead, she felt him! The strange violet eyes had cleared to blue, her shocked face finally bore some color. Her words had been the fuel his rage had needed because she wasn't worthless, damnit! He pooled the sentiment through the bond, forcing his strength to push his vision through to her.

He just wanted her to see. The glorious halo of golden sunshine hair, the perfect crystal blue eyes filled with happiness and laughter. She floated in a corona of light, a being so impeccable and unattainable that despite the instantaneous infatuation that had shattered his world within seconds, he knew he'd never have a chance in hell with her. He knew that. Someone like her needed laughter, needed life. He was barely human–just a robot going through the motions hoping that the monotony would fill the pathetic years of his life with something to do.

He pushed, again feeding the raw love that had once crushed the life back into his chest toward her, laying each scene before her eyes one by one so she could see why he'd finally pushed her away. She'd been so happy, so hopeful, so blindingly, devastatingly perfect that he just couldn't bear the thought of her settling, of giving up a future where she could be happy for one with him.

"Serenity, my dear," the snakelike voice slithered through the moment, cutting the connection even as Mamoru's eyes began to darken. "They're waiting for us."

.

.

…

The gardens were green again, days after the strange event that had shattered what was left of her nerves. Even her fiancé could tell something had changed–something that bore the seeds of hope in the face of doubt. Something that fought back with a vengeance.

It was stupid. Even after all this time to process, to let go and stop hurting, it took so little to bring her hopes back to life. She'd been anxious and pensive, always looking for somewhere to disappear to when Diamond wasn't looking. Her parents still repeated their joy, their sudden approval even though they didn't know a thing about the strange man in white. It felt…wrong.

The bushes were green as they had been before, but the multitude of blossoms had vanished in the time between. She knelt gently beside one, brushing fingers across the satin petals.

Had it really been him? The memory was already beginning to fade, even the pain that had gripped her side in a molten fist. Mamoru didn't care, he'd said so to her face, but then why did she feel so certain that the picture was from him? Why did she still feel his presence here?

"Serenity." The white prince's voice had a slight edge of curiosity. She spun, feeling her blood rush to her head, saw the darkness swim in her vision as the dizziness set it. "Come to me."

Dreamlike, fighting a riptide of weight bearing her limbs forward as if walking, she tried to scream, tried to force her way back through the glade. Her feet moved alone though, her mind darkening with her sight in one sweep of his hand. Her spirit felt like tatters clinging to a crust of body, seeing from somewhere far overhead as he wrapped a steady arm around her shoulder.

"Enough, sweet princess. Let's go home." The ring flared darkly from her hand, the hot molten sensation burning through flesh and bone. She tried to scream, to push him off, to do anything other than stand there helpless as he bent to kiss her. The tears stroked her face regardless, showing what she could not. He pulled away, eyes sharp and angry. "Something has changed in you."

"No," she barely forced the word free, felt the chill of terror climbing through her spine. He grimaced, turning away toward the garden with deep hatred. His face twisted in the sunlight, all bones and teeth and horror. Her spirit fled another inch, forcing her back into her own mind so she didn't have to see what he really was.

"I see. It seems certain things cannot be controlled here, not for some." He turned back, the smooth white face bending back into a chin, a jaw, a mouth. She shuddered, trying to force some feeling into her legs one more time. Her hand flared again, a leash pulling tighter and tighter until the darkness covered everything in a coat of despair.

.

.

…

Yay, finally chapter 10! Sorry it took so long!

I haven't forgotten these, though I should probably let you know I'm not going to update Eight Days, there just wasn't enough interest in it. I will do another chapter of Bloodlines, though. It didn't have many comments, but frankly, the story's too wicked delicious to pass up, so yeah :P I'm going to be selfish and finish that one. IN YO FACE!

That said, please review! I tend to gauge which story to update on the number/quality of reviews received, just because it's easier than running amok.

As always, credit to the editor! Don't worry, I read through again to make sure there weren't two sentances mashed into one…ya know…cuz I do that sometimes…*Glances as SoulBound, Bloodlines, Drunken Mamoru Saga* slightlyxjaded is the BEST!

E


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

He woke in a pool of sweat.

At least it wasn't another vision. It wasn't as comforting a thought as it should be. At least in the visions, he could see her. If they were stuck like this forever, at least he could watch over her. It was what he'd wanted when he left, right? Just to…stand back and watch. He could see her, enjoy the music of her ridiculous laugh, and never come close again. Never touch her. Never speak to her. Never again.

He pushed the tears around with bloodied hands, hating that it had come down to this. She could feel the bond, but there was nothing else. It couldn't break him free. It couldn't save her. All it could do is show her that he cared. Was that what he wanted? When he'd seen her that day with Unazuki at his back, he'd just wanted to rip the bandages off in one clean stroke. He wanted to make it as painless as possible in the long run. He wanted her to move on.

Why was now any different? It was the one thing he would have kept hidden away until his dying day. There had been so many lies after they broke up that this one truth was the only important thing.

Then he could die. The white prince could rip his body apart, and it wouldn't matter. She'd know.

"Somber thoughts for one so young."

The disembodied voice floated from every direction, but it wasn't his enemy. Instant recognition had him surging to his feet, the molten rage answering again with a slither down each arm. The dreams that had torn them apart shared the same ominous tone, the same pattern. His hands pulsed with warmth as he stumbled to his feet.

Instead, the anger fizzled out as a figure came into view. The unmistakable shape could have been a mirror image, though paled and distorted despite the darkness. It was maddening, just another vision sent by the enemy to drive him from the brink.

"Oh, here we go again. What now, an attack on my manhood? Seriously, you twisted jackass!" The figure was clothed in soft lavender, with a white mask despite the fact it was obvious who it was meant to be. Even the cane he held had been beautified, slender and encrusted with gems. The white shoes were perfectly clean. The cape was still fluttering.

As if it wasn't bad enough he had to endure visions of Usako living with that freak.

"Calm yourself, Mamoru. I'm here to help." The man raised a gloved hand as if to placate him, but it was just too much. The voice, the ridiculous getup, the exhaustion.

"Fuck you," he growled, turning his eyes anywhere but the purple bedecked buffoon. If Diamond wanted to fight, he should get himself down here and quit hiding. That was the point he was trying to make, wasn't it? That Mamoru was less than a man?

"I'm hardly the one you should worry about. Follow me." The figure turned with his cane toward the glass, revealing the expensive flutter of his cape, the sheen of his suit. The thought was revolting.

"Right," Tuxedo Kamen all but hurled the word out there, so disgusted with the show, so lost in his own head that the possibility no longer registered. He would have settled back down on the cool floor had a hand not ripped his shoulder back, forcing him to face the doppelganger's hard glare.

"Would you rather wallow here while Serenity is taken against her will?" His quiet rage was so familiar, so like Mamoru's, that it left him dizzy. Long after he'd spoken, the question slowly bled through his brain enough to make sense.

"Taken?" The word felt dirty. Hard midnight eyes stared through his own like a freight train. The mask was a pathetic attempt to cover the raw intensity he now recognized as Endymion. This wasn't some love-struck teenager; the face was older than him by years, and the gaze melting through his own could have made that difference by centuries. Despite himself, despite facing off with some of the worst the underworld had to offer, it was intimidating.

King Endymion bit back a snarl, staring at the befuddled youth currently having his ass handed to him on a platter. "I really was this stupid," he muttered hopelessly before tightening his grip. "Listen, you fool. Serenity will be your wife–do you not care if she is raped by another man? Do you think so little of her that she should be passed around before even you have had the chance to love her yourself?"

It was an interesting bit of introspection Endymion would have to reflect on later. The gears which had slowed to a near-halt moments before were beginning to grind together at an exponential pace. The bland, stupid face he'd borne before quickly smoothed to cold, calculating rage. After watching this nonsense unfold in his memory, it was good to see he hadn't wasted too much time in coming. The experience would do Mamoru some good in the future, when Serenity would be the one he answered to, rather than himself.

"I'll kill him," the hero growled quietly, gathering the strength up through his feet and into the core. Something had changed. The strength of his bomber had never wavered since receiving the power, but now felt it felt more like a smoldering volcano ready to burst. The tatters of his uniform fluttered momentarily as he regained himself, sewing together like the bits of his mind that had been cut loose. The feel of steady, solid earth beneath his feet brought with it a sense of reality, a sense of purpose.

"Good." Endymion offered a snide pat on the back and swung away. "Let's go."

The cane lifted just enough to tap the glass. The concussive shattering slid like knives through Mamoru's ears and nearly knocked his feet out from beneath him. He had to mentally pull his jaw up again as the figure ducked through the opening and into the private rooms Usagi had used during their stay. Curious and hesitant, he came forward as well, fully expecting the glass to block his way. The broken remains cut into his palm as he slid through.

His legs were jelly. The silver scissors she'd nearly stabbed herself with still bore remnants of blood on the handle. Impossibly long strands of silver hair trailed away from an ornate brush still laying on the vanity. He stepped down to the floor, where iron brown speckles stained the grey stone.

It was real.

Shit, the whole thing was fucking real.

"Coming?" the voice asked sharply, bringing Mamoru's eyes to the door. The wood burst outward in a shower behind the old king, raining against the stone hallway beyond.

"M…maybe it's the purple," he muttered in disbelief before following.

.

.

…..

The sound of footsteps pounding through the darkness was a come-hither call. Her prey lie just beyond the edge of the cancerous yellow glow, coated in shadows, waiting. It was how he had always operated: slinking away from the light. She ground a heel down into the flagstones, took a long, calming breath, and bunched together in preparation. The fog offered little for sight, but her ears were straining to catch every sound of him. Blue eyes narrowed and hardened into shards of murderous intent.

A flicker hit the foggy lamplight's edge, and she snapped forward like a gunshot.

They grappled there on the ground like animals, clawing, screaming curses, and biting. She kicked viciously, catching his chin in a blinding upward strike, but he'd already pinned the other calf to the floor. She flipped, knocking his weight free long enough to wrap one leg around his shoulder with the arm stretched long across her torso. It was instinct alone that saved her as the palm charged and exploded just as quickly.

The two rolled away from each other. She had enough time to see the grimace, the bloody nose, and a rose forming in his hand before the night swallowed him whole.

Bastard. She crouched low against the wall, following suit into the darkness. He'd pay, damnit. Venus flicked the tress of golden hair back over her shoulder, all the while searching the shadows for her enemy. He would use this to his advantage, just like everything else. Like he used her princess. Like he used the Senshi. The heels at her feet betrayed her position before she could think to counteract it.

The weapon shot out from the darkness too soon, her thoughts hadn't allowed her a chance to ready her attack. The sharp stem hurdled forward just in time for her to raise an arm in self-defense.

The pain never came. The blond blinked, peering through the cross of her arms the see what had become of the projectile, but it was gone. At her feet lay the broken stem, the fallen petals.

And an ace of hearts stuck firm in cement.

"Ace? But how..." she stuttered, no longer caring that Tuxedo Kamen could hear her.

"Fight first, V, you know that." The ghostly suit bled from the night, his white hair gleaming yellow. He held a gloved finger to his lips, motioning to the left. "He's coming,"

It was odd. She didn't dare dwell on the strange feeling, but it seemed for a moment that his warm green eyes flickered violet.

.

.

…..

It didn't take long to find the morgue. Crystalline structures formed like coffins stood at attention along wall. One had been shattered already, and chunks of sparkling light coated the ground before it. Endymion stepped over the mess without stopping, but Mamoru was more hesitant. What had broken out? Shouldn't they be watching for guards, or monsters? It made him nervous walking straight into a fight without surveying first.

Obviously, his calculating nature had eased over the years.

"Come out, pig! I know you're here!" The freakish clone in purple had marched into the middle of the room, but stood scanning the walls despite his bad position. Tuxedo Mask never would have announced his presence. With only two attacks available to him, he had to be more cautious than this.

"We should keep moving," Mask tried quietly, but it was no use talking to himself. Endymion slammed the butt of his cane sharply against the stone, shattering the piece in one move.

"Diamond!"

"Cut the dramatics, your highness, it makes you look like a fool." One coffin slid open to their left, and the duo turned as one. The white prince was smiling as he approached, the kind that made Mamoru's skin crawl. If Usagi was back in that room, so help him, he'd tear the wall down just to get to her.

"It's Majesty. Some of us actually ascended a throne instead of simpering off to be a magician's lap dog," the king snarled. Mask turned to view the lines of coffins along the wall again; something was tugging at him not far away.

"Not for long. Soon, Serenity won't even know your name. She…." He was cut short, jumping away as a silver dagger slammed into the wall beside him, buried to the hilt. Diamond grinned, raising a solidifying glass in mock solute. "I see your aim hasn't improved."

A long, slim blade drew from the cane, and Endymion stepped forward with murder in his eyes. There were no words needed. He lunged, catching the stone wall with the tip of his blade as the white prince skittered out of reach. Diamond chuckled ominously, swirling his wine in one hand with casual grace.

"No need to think ahead when she's around, is there? Just point her at an enemy and watch them wither away." The ruler swung again with a surgeon's precision, yet Diamond seemed two steps ahead. "You can't use her like that anymore. Not here." His infuriating smile was engineered to be a distraction. Endymion knew it, and yet it was difficult not to allow that rage to show. Once Diamond was chained in his cellar, he could scream and rage and hack the little creep to pieces, but now was not the time for emotional response.

The Dark Moon Clan's leader was already celebrating his victory. It was an amateur mistake.

Mamoru took a moment to look at the closest coffin in greater detail. Dread was growing low in his spine the longer he stared at them, and this one made his chest feel hollow and sunken in. The royals continued their banter behind him, but he was too busy scrubbing the surface of the rock in the hopes of peering inside. There had to be another way in, because somewhere inside wind was billowing against white fabric. The quartz was clouded, but beneath the smoky layers, a human hand was suspended. He could barely trace the line of an arm, but there was no need to keep searching. Usako's long, slender fingers and tiny palm were unmistakable. A flash of soft silver burned through the haze, long enough that there was no denying who lay locked away. He fought the raging crush of relief that nearly brought him to his knees long enough to search for a seam anywhere on the rock.

At his touch, the glowing figure pulsed within the stone, lighting the surface until Usagi's tiny silhouette fluttered against the lid. He scrambled along the ridge, scraping and cursing when there was no break. She wasn't moving, damnit! Was she breathing? Would his bomber work on it? Did he dare try with her locked away inside? If anything were to happen to her, he'd never forgive himself.

"What would you do? Take her away from this horrible place, only to break her further once your pathetic life shriveled to nothing? Would you go back to your ginger lovers and push her memory aside? She has given me every weapon against you, and I will use them." The icy prince gloated from his safe haven above the ground. His twisted view should have been more cutting, but centuries at her side had forged an understanding of his wife that left no room for doubt. Despite the enemy's laughing smile, he'd misunderstood the most primal part of the Queen. Her heart.

The king snorted, flicking his wrist. The wine goblet shattered, throwing shards back in Diamond's face. The prince howled momentarily, but recovered in time to block the next lunge. The scratched and bleeding face wasn't enough. For taking his wife, Endymion would deconstruct this little piece of shit. Serenity forgive him, but at least she'd be safe.

The plan had been so simple. Jumpstart the bond that kept them together by forcing a momentary absence. It was the only thing he could think of to push both of them into seeing the coming danger. It was all he could do to protect Chibiusa from so far away. It had backfired the second Diamond slipped through the time gates. He'd have words with Pluto about that.

"Don't worry, Usako, I'm coming," Mamoru grumbled, forming a rose with his fist. The steel-tipped weapon slammed against the rock, etching a thin mark as it slid down the surface. It was maddening being separated from her again, always, the woman he loved permanently just out of reach. This would _never_ happen again. Even if he had to time travel and kick his own ass. He grimaced, winding back for a full swing against the stone.

"Serenity." The king's voice seemed to ripple in the air as Tuxedo worked, the words were hard like diamonds. Each swing rebounded off the coffin with little effect. "You've seen what happens when you give in. Do not repeat history for us. You must be the strong one."

"Yes, talk to the stone. That will surely bring her back to you," the hollow chuckle rumbled between them as Diamond swirled his wine. The dark, hungry eyes were amused at the show. It was as if he had already done enough damage that no words could change it.

"Usako, please listen," but the words wouldn't break free of his mouth. The woman he had loved from the moment he saw her was a stranger. The long silver hair floated behind glass, her pale skin shimmered. Was his Odango finally gone? Had he waited until sweet Usagi had been swallowed up by her past? "Odango." The word, a cherished nickname from a time when things were less complicated, fell from his lips with sacred reverence.

He could still see the righteous anger in her eyes when they met. That girl would never allow this to happen. It was everything he loved about her and more. Changing his goddess was a crime; to say she wasn't enough was sacrilege. He'd been so afraid to tell her before, so terrified that she'd leave or die, just like everyone else. He didn't want to be scared anymore. It didn't matter that he wasn't good enough for her, and he didn't care if he had to scream it from every rooftop. She wouldn't leave this world without knowing _exactly_ how he felt.

"Let her go. Your games with the timeline have done enough damage." Endymion stepped forward, his dark hair all but sucking in the blackness around them. The king would harbor no such weakness as his past self did.

"Let her go?" the demon laughed, his face shifting, sharpening as he spoke. "My dear king, I am not the one keeping her here. Am I, Serenity?" The quartz stone shattered and fell. Shards ripped across Mamoru's face, imbedding in the skin like fiery hate. The golden sparks blinded him and drove him back a few steps. The sound of falling crystal was lost in the sight of her. Even the feel of rock slowly being worked out through his skin couldn't distract him.

Her hair no longer blew in an unseen wind. The purple and green gossamer dress she'd worn that night in the park shifted with every breath. The strange lavender eyes twitched and opened, a ring-adorned hand rose to touch the side of her head. There was something wrong. The sightless eyes didn't blink. The pale skin seemed grey and sickly. His heart clenched and shuddered, horrified at the abuse she must have suffered already.

"What would you say to our guests, my dear?"

"Leave."

"I do believe you've heard the lady. Venus, take care of them," Diamond snarledAnother crystal coffin shattered from the back, shards of rock painting the scene as golden shoes clattered onto the stone. Hell-fire blue eyes narrowed on the prince, her chain snapped hard between both fists.

White hot rage and pain slammed into Mamoru's skull as the chain whip cracked. The bulk of him went flying, hazing the air with red mist and bone as he slammed into a wall. Nothing but white fog existed. No sound, no pain, nothing but a terrifying light that blinded every other sense. He must have screamed. He must have landed in a pile of grey matter and blood on one side of the morgue.

"Venus, stand down!" Endymion snapped, never allowing his eyes to stray. Even the image of Serenity slowly making her way to Diamond's side was not enough to pull him from the course. He'd seen this before years into the future, and he wouldn't allow it to continue.

When the haze cleared, only the vision of Venus could be seen. A halo of gold enveloped the familiar girl, but there was no recognition in the cornflower eyes, only hate. Mamoru struggled limply to stand, his fingers grazing along the edge of his wound in dumbfounded horror. They came away dripping and sludgy. The chain had ripped through his skull and left him bleeding and cursing. Venus had never attacked him before. Why was she taking orders from their enemy?

"Shall we, Endymion?" Diamond's smooth lacquer voice was gloating. The glimmering silver princess now stood at his side, her eyes dark and turned away.

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Chappie-chappiness! Chappies for everyone!

Hope the holidays were good! Credit to slightlyxjaded for the editing, as per usual. We've got two more measly little chapters left on this baby and they're mostly written. That said, this is the time of year when my job basically eats me alive, so…yeah…

Pharmacy. Bleh.

REVIEW PLEASE! You know I love to hear from you!

E


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The long stone corridor ended abruptly with a doorway leading to the left. Mercury slid past a dim crystal light nervously, casting a glance behind as she did. There were no guards, though. The sound of voices clamored from within the room. It was some sort of discussion that had turned nasty. She couldn't make out the words yet, but it was clear the speaker was not amused. Her ankle throbbed, but still she kept to her toes, making certain the clack of a heel never touched the ground as she walked.

It had been difficult getting this far. She'd been sweating badly, and the cold had frozen the droplets first into flakes, then to tiny icicles that clattered on stone. Her gloves were stained dark at the fingers from crawling along the walls. No one had seen her yet. It wouldn't last much longer, if this room was what she hoped. It was far enough into the castle to be either a war chamber or meeting room, but placement made it more likely to be the tech base.

She slid closer, careful to control her breathing now that the doorway was inches away.

"...not looking for excuses, Rubius, he wants her head." The first male spoke with precision. She logged the information carefully, as he was most likely the mastermind behind the cascade. Diamond didn't strike her as a programming genius. Nor did this figure sound like the perverse leader of the Dark Moon Clan.

"Mercury isn't exactly the most notable of the team. Why should she matter?" the snide, high-pitched male voice could have been anyone. It was easy to tell the two apart, though, good news if there were more people crowded together here. She slid a fraction closer, hoping to spare a glance around the corner at the two without being caught. If she waited long enough, they might be distracted enough not to notice her.

"I understand that tactics are a bit above your pay grade, but having any Senshi mucking about in the works is bad. Mercury is extremely bad. Now get out," the first snapped again, this time his voice distorting as he turned away. It gave her an idea of how big the room was, since the voice didn't carry an echo with it. "Take your puppets with you."

"But Sapphire," a woman spoke now, and one of the specter sisters revealed her position. Mercury hadn't had enough run-ins with the quartet to know them all by name, but she was sure she'd heard that thick, deep alto voice before.

"Out!"

The group filed out through a separate doorway, their voices fading as the door was shut from the other side. Thanking luck alone, the sole Senshi stole a quick look around the corner, noting the small room with console and screens dominating the far corner. Only one person stood there, watching each monitor with such intensity that he hadn't bothered to check his back.

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He rolled as a second whip crack snapped at the air where he'd been. Thought it felt like he'd left chunks of flesh and most of his stomach behind, still he forced himself up behind a crystal coffin. His vision cleared bit by bit, choked with dust and pain as his skull mended. His mask had gone, probably snapped in half in the last attack. He still had the smoking bomber, if he could just find some way to use it without permanently injuring Venus.

The rock at his back shattered apart, and his ears were left ringing in pain. He fell to his knees quickly, taking what little cover there was left to start the charge on his bomber. It was too late, though, Venus was already gathering a beam of golden light in her finger. He dove, barely skipping beneath the heavy ray as it sliced into the wall.

Another coffin provided enough cover to get his bearings. The massive welt down the front of his skull was almost mended now, though he was sure he could feel chunks of rock being worked out of his shoulder. He charged the bomber again, this time taking a moment to glance around the room. What he really needed was a distraction for the blond, something that would keep her occupied while he worked on getting Usagi free.

The answer came in a flash of recognition. Within the depths of the stone at his back, he could feel radiating heat coiling against his back. Without a second thought, he pressed his palm flat against the crystal and shot. The thick rock snapped and crackled, spreading spider-thin vines through the faults in the stone.

He fled to another, watching as the stone burst finally, the most inward facing rock already molten and liquefied in the Senshi's growing heat. The charcoal-haired girl fell forward, catching herself on the face of crystal before her and forcing air into her lungs. Heat rolled off her back in shimmering folds, and the fire warrior straightened slowly.

She caught his eye first, and he shot a glance toward Venus again, half expecting the enraged leader of the Senshi team to shoot at the priestess as well. The blond was too busy snapping her chain and searching for him behind the coffins. Mars cast another glance across the room, only mildly surprised to note a doppelganger in a sword fight with the pervert around a glowing black crystal.

"Come out, you little slug." Venus muttered darkly, her mouth twisted in a strange smile. The insanity was obvious, even to Mars who tossed a lock of hair over one shoulder and sighed. After taking out the Generals, forcing her way through the cascade, even fighting with Mamoru and cementing every hateful thought she'd had of him, still…the only logical move was this.

Without another word, the fire warrior raced toward her counterpart, slamming into the blonde's side and knocking the chain from her hands. The two grappled on the ground momentarily, before Rei could lock the girl down in a vicious hold.

With Venus incapacitated, it took him all of thirty seconds to find the figure of Usagi in the gloom. She was standing toward the back, her eyes glazed and sightless. Diamond had some sort of spell on her, otherwise she'd be horrified and crying at the fight. He moved without thinking, noting that his future self and the white prince were struggling together to his right. The room wasn't large enough for this.

He bolted forward, careful to dodge around the already shattered boxes and toward Usagi. It was the moment her slinky figure turned toward him, wandering through the gloom with subtle grace. Flashes of gold and pink blew through the dust. The figure was hers, shapely and long and gorgeous, but the face was someone else entirely. Draped in burgundy and black, the woman stalked toward him with a crystal tied to her wrist. Long coils of sugar pink hair dribbled to the ground at her feet.

It was the eyes that stopped him, though. The shape, so similar to hers, and the color like warm cinnamon and spice, made the figure familiar and less threatening. The leggy woman was walking toward him slowly, blood colored lips pulled into a smile.

"I'm told you like red-heads." Her strawberry colored hair practically glowed, and the crystal hanging from her wrist glittered like starlight. He gulped, trying to look past the girl he suspected as his tiny best friend all grown up. The look in her eye was anything but childish.

"Usako, please," he called ahead, afraid to come any closer to the womanly specter. Chibi-usa was his friend, just a child. He couldn't fight her, not even if it meant his life. But someone had to get Usa away from this nightmare, get her home safe where she could recover.

"Small Lady! Control yourself immediately!" Endymion hollered, but it was no use. The girl had slid forward enough to finger the front of Mamoru's tux. It made his skin crawl, the wrench of disgust twisting his insides like a knife. He didn't want to hurt her, but damnit, if she didn't back off he'd either do that or puke. "Mamoru! That's your daughter! Only Usako can change her back!"

"Take him, Wicked Lady, get rid of him!" Diamond screamed in response, hacking a nasty slice through Endymion's chest. The ruler growled in pain, sliding back long enough Mamoru could see the golden sparks burst across his front. Recognition exploded through his grey matter.

It was a power given through the royal bloodline, something the enemy never would have known about.

"My pleasure," the girl cooed, wrapping her arm around his neck.

"Chibi…." It all clicked into place. The strange connection he'd always felt with the child wasn't just because they shared personality flaws. The flash of future terror he'd felt that day in the park wasn't just because of his powers, it was because it was _his_ future. His future with Usagi. Not some pathetic childish dream he couldn't bear to see through, not some lonely future where he could watch over her from afar. It was set in stone. The appearance of their daughter confirmed it. The raw mix of emotions made him hesitate. Chibi-usa's claw-like nails dug into his scalp and the blood red lips drew closer.

Usako was his.

It wasn't just some dream, some hope. Hell, they had a kid!

"Hell yes," he murmured, hardly believe the blind stupid luck. She'd chosen him even after all of this? After all the fights, the terrible things he'd said to her, still she would be his? It was almost too good to be true. They would win, and everything would work out fine. If not, the paradox of Chibiusa would cease to exist.

"I know, it's so much better with me, Mamo-chan," the girl whispered, sending her breath across his mouth.

Mamoru snapped his head back, feeling the scalp tear and bleed as fingernails dug through flesh. He shoved the woman away, fighting back waves of nausea at the thought of his own kid getting so close.

One thing was for sure, they were investing in some counseling after this.

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The floor was littered in white rose petals. Trails of filmy cloth draped between the pews, curled around lamps and posts, and filmed across the backdrop. She clenched the fistful of flowers tighter, wondering why the nervous clench in her gut felt so sharp. Everything was as they had planned. There was nothing more to worry about. Her feet were moving slow and steady across the carpet. Fragrant roses painted the air.

The crowd was cheering so loud it was hard to hear the music. A pale hand righted the veil over her face, drawing her eyes to the side. Her mother smiled in return, patting her arm affectionately. Another hand smoothed across her back, and she saw her father standing at her other side. The frothy white dress coated their legs, the whole aisle, and brushed against the pews as they past. Glittering diamonds winked through the mass. Flowers lined the row leading toward the front.

Her veil pressed against her face as she walked, and the soft touch of silk and organza was heavenly. Everything was beautiful. Just the way she wanted it. If only her stomach would relax.

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Ice cold vengeance made Mercury sit back on her heels and observe the screens. There had to be a clue in there somewhere about where Usagi was being kept. Venus was fighting to the left, her golden chain easy to recognize even at this distance. Jupiter was pounding through the stone with her fists, though it was obvious the fighter was still lost within the confines of the cascade. There was a moment as a dark screen grew red and glowing. Mars' face winked out, and the man cursed while a snow of white noise took it's place.

Several of the tvs had gone white. Only a few of them had been in use, with several more standing blank on the sides. It had to be some larger scale plan. The other rooms filled with coffins came to mind. She scanned the remaining walls with some unease. There had been so many of those glass coffin boxes, was it possible these were meant to monitor more prisoners kept inside?

A flash of gold lit the screen above his left shoulder, drawing her eyes instantly back. The man in blue was staring at the screen, muttering curses under his breath. Usagi's face came through, covered in white mist. There was so much white it was difficult to see what was happening. Still, the fact that she was likely trapped in one of the coffins was a slight comfort. Perhaps the dark prince hadn't had a chance to stake his claim yet.

Mercury flicked her hands, now heavy with ice. The falling crystals clattered across the stones at her feet and the man spun toward her with a short black dagger in hand.

"I should have known." He shook his head, allowing the amusement to show. "I told him not to underestimate your abilities." Mercury slid around the corner, readying herself to launch off her good foot.

"Give her back."

It wasn't a request. As the man stepped forward, the chills spread across her skin, in recognition, in revulsion. The high, classic cheekbones, the dark hair tinged blue instead of black. Even in height, it was frighteningly apparent that he could have doubled for Mamoru any other time. In fact, if she didn't know better, this could be just another layer of dreams meant to keep her away from her friends.

"You're too late. The queen's taken too much dark energy as it is. Any moment now, she'll become one of us," he sneered. The sound of it melted into white noise, and the vision of Mars' face disappearing gave her hope. It was something the man hadn't expected, something that proved her sister warriors were on the right path.

Still, her hands were shaking. The same frost that had caught his attention before had worsened. Already, the long icicle stretching from her bunched fist was nearly a foot in length. Her ankle was starting to burn. He was probably double her size, with the power of the dark crystal at his back. He was running their tech base.

"You have two choices, Mercury. You can go back in the box, or you can die. Those who come willingly gain access to the crystal's power."

"Like Usagi?" the mouse queried, her mind desperately trying to find a weakness. In a physical battle, the man would definitely overpower her. She was no Jupiter in a brawl. Nor could she call on another plane of existence like Mars. Her attacks weren't nearly the kind of brunt force Venus could muster. With those lanes closed to her, along with the idea that a mist wouldn't give her long enough to reroute the main computer through her mini, it was almost enough to make her panic. Almost.

"She's come willingly–so far. We wouldn't want to try anything now. For her health, of course."

He drew closer with casual grace. Her fists tightened. The cold slithered deeper from her arms, growing harder, stronger. Usagi wasn't just trapped, her poisoned body was faltering and choking, probably drowning in one of those coffins. She'd been so close, damn it! Back in that room with the coffins, Usa had been right there! If Mamoru had never existed, none of this would have happened. If he loved her like he pretended to in the beginning, he never would have allowed her to be taken.

This man with his face twisted in a cruel smile, even as odd as his coloring was, looked just like the Earth Prince. Hell, it probably was him. This whole thing could have been a set-up from the start. The cold fury sharpened. With every step, the doppelganger came closer. He'd be in range for an attack like she'd used on the woman in black soon.

It wasn't good enough. This was personal.

"Come on," he froze, shuddering and swallowing the last of his thought. For a gargling moment, the words bubbled and spewed in a bright crimson flow from his limp mouth. There was little satisfaction to see him die so suddenly, though. She grimaced, twisting the icy blade until the form jerked convulsively. She levered herself harder off the wall, pushing the point of her icicle deeper through his chest. Blood dribbled from his mouth. Dark blue eyes grew filmy. The corpse sighed once, and slid to the floor, grinding inch by inch down the makeshift blade.

Mercury calmly snapped the ice from her hand, and stepped away.

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Violent purple eyes filled her vision from the altar. It wasn't the longing or desire she may have expected; the thought froze her chest. Deep within, her gut was aching and a scream was begging to tear free from the back of her throat. Something wasn't right. Nervous lavender eyes fled to her mother on one side, searching for any sign that the other woman had felt it, too. Ikuko was smiling, patting her hand affectionately and leading her toward the front.

She was still moving.

Now it was fear that forced her to turn to her father. Kenji's firm hand at her back was steadily pushing her on, but it didn't matter. Her feet were moving on their own, and the whole church was cheering and shouting. Flower petals exploded in her face as she searched for anyone she may have recognized at the front.

Where was everyone? The church was filled to the brim with people, curving up the walls until it felt more like a stadium than a chapel. Still, there was something missing. Frustration and anger began to gather in her chest. None of the faces were familiar, not a single friend sat waiting to celebrate. Where were the girls? Where was Naru?

She shuddered, fighting to turn anywhere else. Her feet kept moving forward. Ikuko patted her hand again, an action that was beginning to wear thin.

"We're so proud of you, sweetheart."

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The dark corridors seemed to stretch forever into the darkness, slowly stealing what little hope she had of finding a way out. The sleek feline body fled from shadow to shadow, sinking deeper into the keep. There had been few guards, easily outmaneuvered in her current form. She paused at a fork in the hallways, carefully sniffing the ground in both directions before turning to the right.

It felt like hours since she'd begun. The trail was fairly fresh, and given the corpse still soaking in an earlier hallway, she'd been dead on in her guess. Mercury was out for blood, just as Venus had said. She never should have doubted the blond. She shouldn't have doubted any of them. Especially after what they'd done to Beryl and her armies, this should be nothing.

She stopped again at the end of a hallway, her paws suddenly wet. With an awkward shake, she tried to get the droplets free, but it was too late. Instead, she sidestepped several times until the pads were dry again before sneaking closer to the doorway.

An overpowering stench met her on the other side, hard and metallic and familiar. The cat hissed in surprise at the blood spattered face, shocked and horrified to see the Terran Prince dead. It took a few steps toward the figure before the light could bounce back blue off dark hair, and the pale skin to reflect back instead of golden.

It wasn't Mamoru. She pawed at the face curiously before turning toward the rest of the room. There was a short figure standing at the head of a large switch board, and above several screens were beginning to turn off.

"Mercury!" she yowled, surprised and pleased to see the Senshi at her best. The girl turned awkwardly, favoring one foot. How the defensive genius could have taken out someone Mamoru's size left the cat reeling for a second, especially wounded.

"Luna! Great, I need you to crawl through here and reroute the motherboard source through this hole." The bluenette motioned toward the back of the console where she'd ripped a hole through the metal. Again, the counselor had to shake her head in disbelief, wondering how the hell Mercury had done such a thing; Jupiter, yeah, no problem, but _Mercury_?

"Of course." She mewed finally, squeezing through without too much difficulty. It was cavernous within, and wires towered above her toward the monitors. She hadn't bothered to watch Artemis construct one of the monstrosities in the past, a fact she now regretted. They all would have been better off if he'd been there to help, but there was no point agonizing the fact.

"Luna, get that cord. Yes, the flat-ribbon one…."

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….

"You'll be queen. The future is so bright, little Usa," her mother squealed at her side, the childish face drawn high with excitement. The beginnings of dread coiled deep in her belly; a fear too hard and aching and real to dismiss. It was more real even than the people around her.

There. The familiar faces bled from the crowd as her foot lifted to the first step. Standing in a line, the four stood smiling brightly, holding matching flowers and stunning gowns in dark purple. It seemed an odd choice of color, but the relief at seeing their faces made the earlier dread seem foolish. She couldn't help but laugh nervously, and the sound of it was lost in the cheers of the crowd.

She could be such a drama queen sometimes. Of course everything was fine. It was her wedding day, and her fiancé was waiting.

"I'm in. Can you reach Artemis?"

Usagi whipped back toward the crowd, toward her maids who stood waiting in a line behind her. The gaze landed on Ami, but she was smiling along with the rest of them, waiting patiently for her to take Diamond's hands. It was odd. She could have sworn the genius had said something just then.

"My love?" the groom queried, pulling her back from the thought. The ring on her finger felt so heavy. His long pale hands were outstretched and waiting. It was difficult to lift her arm, yet she found herself sliding her hands within his and turning toward the altar. The reverend stepped forward, his cowl dark and his face obscured in shadow. Another chill spread down her spine at the sight.

"Tsukino Usagi, will you take this man…" The voice crowed and crackled, filling some part of her mind with a warning flare. She gulped, looking to Diamond for reassurance.

His face was flat and emotionless, as he had always seemed. In a strange sense, the thought was only partially comforting. Still, something about the situation felt off. Shouldn't there be some happiness floating in the dark violet eyes? Wasn't he just as…excited? Hopeful? The words felt misshapen in her mind, as if it had been twisted beyond recognition.

The coil of fear began again in her gut. Something was wrong. It wasn't just the odd colors the girls wore, it wasn't just the people sitting, waiting in the crowd. There were people missing; important people who should be sitting right up front. There should be a grinning blond man with his apron still spattered in burger grease.

The thought made a terrifying tumble lurch in her gut. This was so much more than wrong. Someone else was missing, even more important, someone a perfect opposite, someone who sat with quiet intelligence. Someone who's eyes couldn't hide so much as he hoped. Where was…she couldn't remember…. The name, the face that should have been there right in the forefront of her mind, it was all gone. The feeling, though, the sudden knowledge that it wasn't _this_ face, it wasn't _his_ name that should be coming from the reverend's mouth.

"Serenity?" Diamond's voice was smooth as sin, dark and wonderful, the kind of sound she had dreamed of her whole life. So why did she feel…so….

"I…" she gulped, casting a fearful glance toward her parents in the front row. They were sodden-eyed, the whole crowd was. So many people made the room spin and tilt slightly, just enough to make her nauseous. They were waiting for an answer. He was waiting. "I…."

"Shit! Hold on, we're doing it the hard way." Ami's voice broke through again, a sound so tangible that the crowd seemed made out of cardboard.

Everything ground to a halt. The voices of the horde hissed into white noise at the sound of Amy's violent curse. The fuzz blared, even as Diamond spoke without sound. She pulled her hands away, the weight of the ring dragging at her fingers until she could barely lift it. The voices of the crowd blurred together and stopped. The ground felt hard and cold.

The altar fell away. The groom froze and blipped like a glitching videogame. She screamed, tearing the ring from her finger in one swipe. The moment the metal cracked against the ground, her fiancé shattered into a mound of pixels at her feet.

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AN: See? I didn't forget about you guys! My compy just died and took all my hopes and dreams with it :D The next chapter IS coming (it's the finale!), but I think Bloodlines will come out next.

Also, for fans of Diamond, I'm so glad you're loving him! I'm weirded out that you want him to win! To each their own, I guess.

As always, slightlyxjaded is pretty much the best editor alive. She totes took the time to do this last minute for me, so everyone show some love!

E

Jk, I need to get up on my soap box for a second here. For the reviewers.

There are two kinds of people in life: Givers and Takers. Givers go out of their way to make your life wonderful. Takers don't care what you want. That is all.


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